Paramount Global's advertising group made a round of layoffs Tuesday, part of the media conglomerate's efforts to cut $500 million in annual costs, diverse And he confirmed.
Paramount Advertising is the central team that manages multi-platform native advertising sales across CBS, BET, Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon, Paramount+, Pluto TV and other properties.
It was not immediately clear how many employees at Paramount Advertising would be affected by the cuts. Paramount announced last month that it would lay off 15% of its U.S. workforce, or 2,000 jobs, ahead of its merger with Skydance Media.
Paramount Pictures President John Haley announced the layoffs in a memo to employees. “Today will be a difficult day as this process impacts our organization and we will be parting ways with talented and valued colleagues and friends,” Haley said in the memo. “I want to acknowledge how deeply concerned we are about this, as this is not the first time our organization has been impacted. None of this is easy and no decision is taken lightly.”
Haley, who previously served as Paramount's chief operating officer for advertising revenue, took over as the company's chief advertising officer after Jo Ann Ross, the first woman to hold the position of head of advertising sales in the television industry, stepped down earlier this year.
On Paramount's second-quarter 2024 earnings call, Chris McCarthy, one of the company's three current CEOs who heads Showtime/MTV Entertainment Studios and Paramount Media Networks, said the company expects to complete the layoffs by the end of 2024.
McCarthy noted that the $500 million cost-cutting target is part of the $2 billion “cost efficiencies” identified by Skydance and its partner Red Bird Capital Partners. According to McCarthy, the layoffs are primarily targeting two areas: “redundant positions” in marketing and communications and “simplifying our corporate structure” by reducing staff in finance, legal, technology and other support functions.
“As you can imagine, these are difficult decisions to make,” McCarthy said on the call. “We have incredibly talented people at Paramount, and these actions do not reflect their contributions. Rather, they are necessary to transform our organization for the future.”
Paramount Global expects the Skydance deal to close in the first half of 2025. The deal involves Skydance and Red Bird acquiring National Amusements Inc. (the controlling shareholder of Paramount Global) owned by Shari Redstone. Following the transaction, Larry Ellison — founder of Oracle and father of Skydance CEO David Ellison — will own 77.5% of National Amusements Inc.
Despite the annual cost cuts that Skydance/Red Bird are targeting for the new combined company, they claim they will be able to “revitalize” CBS through the acquisition. In a filing with the Federal Communications Commission seeking to transfer the licenses of CBS’s 28 local owned-and-operated television stations, Skydance said the new ownership group would provide “new resources” that would “significantly enhance and revitalize the over-the-air television services that Paramount offers today” with CBS.
Deadline was the first to report the layoffs in Paramount's advertising department.
See also: Tech mogul Larry Ellison to take over Paramount Global after Skydance deal
