Paramount Global said Monday that CEO Bob Bakish is stepping down from his role, a major management change for the media and entertainment company as it considers a potential merger or sale.
Paramount said in a statement Monday that it is creating a new CEO office to replace Bakish. These roles will be filled by three Paramount Global executives: George Cheeks, CEO of CBS; Chris McCarthy, CEO of Showtime/MTV Entertainment Studios and Paramount Media Networks; Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon CEO Brian Robbins.
“I have tremendous confidence in George, Chris and Brian,” Board Chair Shari Redstone said in a statement. “They have both the ability to develop and execute new strategic plans and the ability to work together as true partners.”
Paramount Global is the parent company of CBS News.
Bakish’s resignation comes at a pivotal moment for Paramount as it explores mergers and other deals with several potential partners. In recent weeks, the company has been in exclusive discussions with Skydance Media, a media company founded by David Ellison, the son of Oracle founder Larry Ellison, according to published reports.
Paramount’s ownership structure complicates the discussion, as Shari Redstone, daughter of Paramount founder Sumner Redstone, effectively controls 77% of Paramount’s voting shares. Under the proposed deal with Ellison, Redstone would sell his voting stake to Skydance for $2 billion, while other Paramount shareholders would receive stock in the newly combined company, the Journal reported.
The company did not comment on merger discussions in a statement, but said the board “looks forward to working with George, Chris and Brian as we execute on key initiatives to enhance Paramount Global’s performance and value creation.”
Bakish’s departure marks the end of a long career at Paramount that began in 1997 at the film studio’s predecessor company, Viacom. He was eventually appointed to lead Viacom and oversaw the merger of Viacom and CBS in 2019. In 2022, ViacomCBS changed its name to Paramount Global.
“When I was asked to serve as interim CEO in 2016, I thought it would be a month-long gig,” Bakish said in an email to Paramount Global employees. “After seven years, I can truly say that I have the opportunity to lead this amazing thing. “The company was unexpected, but it was the most welcome gift and the greatest honor of my professional life.”
Separately, Paramount reported a loss of $554 million in the first quarter, down from a loss of $1.12 billion a year ago. Revenues rose 6% to $7.69 billion in February, driven by strong advertising demand for CBS’ Super Bowl broadcast and the addition of 3.7 million new subscribers to its Paramount+ streaming service.
The company said Paramount+ ended the quarter with 71 million subscribers, with losses on the service narrowing to $286 million compared to $511 million in the year-ago quarter.
