As a long-time follower of the ever-changing landscape of the media industry, these layoffs at Paramount Global’s advertising group have left me with a heavy heart yet again. I’ve seen this dance before – companies streamlining, restructuring, and ultimately letting go of talented individuals to meet their financial goals. It’s never easy, especially when it affects friends and colleagues who dedicated years to building the success we see today.
Paramount Global’s advertising department carried out a series of job cuts on Tuesday, which is a move towards their goal of reducing annual expenses by $500 million, according to EbMaster’s confirmation.
The main group responsible for handling domestic advertising sales on multiple platforms, including CBS, BET, Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon, Paramount+, Pluto TV, and more, is known as the centralized team at Paramount Advertising.
It remains unclear how many employees at Paramount Advertising are set to be affected by the impending job cuts, as they recently announced plans to reduce their U.S. workforce by 15%, which equates to approximately 2,000 jobs, prior to their merger with Skydance Media.
The president of Paramount Advertising, John Halley, informed staff in a memo about upcoming layoffs. He expressed that it would be a challenging day due to the impact on our organization, as we’ll be saying goodbye to skilled and valuable colleagues who are also friends. In the memo, he recognized that this situation might cause unease, as our company has previously faced similar challenges. He emphasized that these decisions were not made lightly and the process was not easy.
Previously serving as Chief Operating Officer for advertising revenue at Paramount, Halley has now assumed the highest advertising position within the company following the departure of Jo Ann Ross, who was the pioneering female ad-sales chief in the television industry, earlier this year.
During Paramount’s second quarter earnings conference in 2024, Chris McCarthy, one of the three current co-CEOs who oversees Showtime/MTV Entertainment Studios and Paramount Media Networks, announced that they plan to finalize all layoffs by the end of the same year.
McCarthy noted that the $500 million in targeted cost reductions is included in the $2 billion of “cost efficiencies” identified by Skydance and its partner, RedBird Capital Partners. The layoffs are primarily targeted in two areas: “redundant functions” within marketing and communications and “streamlining our corporate structure” by reducing headcount in finance, legal, technology and other support functions, according to McCarthy.
It’s understandable that these choices are tough, but here’s the point: Our team at Paramount is exceptionally skilled. These steps we’re taking don’t reflect their value; instead, they’re crucial for shaping our organization to thrive in the future,” McCarthy explained during the call.
I, as a supporter, anticipate that the Skydance deal will be finalized within the first half of 2025. This transaction includes Skydance and RedBird Acquisition Corporation acquiring Shari Redstone’s National Amusements Inc., which currently serves as Paramount Global’s majority shareholder. Upon completion, Larry Ellison, founder of Oracle and father of Skydance CEO David Ellison, will become the owner of 77.5% of NAI.
Despite projected savings of over $2 billion annually from Skydance/RedBird’s acquisition of CBS, they assert that the merger will breathe new life into CBS. The new ownership group promises to infuse “fresh assets” that will significantly enhance and rejuvenate the over-the-air television broadcasting services currently offered by Paramount in collaboration with CBS. This declaration was made in an FCC application seeking permission for the transfer of the licenses of CBS’s 28 owned-and-operated local TV stations.
The layoffs in Paramount’s advertising division were first reported by Deadline.
SEE ALSO: Tech Tycoon Larry Ellison Will Control Paramount Global After Skydance Deal Closes
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2024-09-17 23:46