CBS Chief George Cheeks Talks Paramount Global Uncertainty, Traction for ‘Tracker’ and the Future of Broadcast TV

In the latest executive shuffle at Paramount Global, home entertainment chief Bob Buchi is exiting and will be replaced by Amazon MGM digital distribution exec Andres Alvarez.

Paramount Global‘s unorthodox Office of the CEO, which started as a presumed placeholder, is turning into a longer-term fixture poised to once again reshape the tempest-tossed company.

Paramount Global and its predecessor companies have gone through several tumultuous decades. Here’s a timeline of key events that led up to the company’s most recent M&A drama, in this week’s cover story: What Went Wrong: Inside Paramount’s Failed Merger Talks and the Battle to Salvage the Company. MARCH 4, 1987: Sumner Redstone’s National Amusements Inc.

Shari Redstone, it was nothing personal. But the longer the negotiations went on, the more Redstone fell out of love with the idea of marrying her family’s legacy to David Ellison’s Skydance Media. So on June 11, as board members of Paramount Global were about to hold a key meeting on the long-gestating deal to merge with Skydance, Redstone was out — even as those around her were still scrambling to get it done.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Christa D’Alimonte, Paramount Global‘s EVP, general counsel and secretary, is exiting at the end of the month after 12 years at the company and its predecessor Viacom. D’Alimonte on Tuesday informed her team that she will be leaving the company on June 28 (read the memo below).

Paramount Global General Counsel Christa D’Alimonte has told colleagues she will be exiting the company at the end of the month.

Sharareh Drury Variety has won two best cover awards from the American Society of Magazine Editors. Variety‘s “Michael J. Fox Tells His Story” issue, which ran May 17, 2023, and features an in-depth interview with Michael J.

EXCLUSIVE: We can tell you first that Joker and Deadpool 2 actress Zazie Beetz has signed on to headline They Will Kill You, the first feature from Nocturna, the horror label formed this year by Skydance and Andy & Barbara Muschietti. 

Paramount co-CEOs George Cheeks, Brian Robbins and Chris McCarthy thanked staff in a memo today, obtained by Deadline, for a few tough months rocked by Skydance merger speculation. With that deal a no go, they said, they have plan, one mostly laid out at last week’s annual shareholders meeting, to take the company into the future.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor David Ellison, chief executive of Skydance Media, thanked employees of his company for their focus as he was engaged in a months-long bid to merge with Paramount Global. And even though that effort failed, he said that Skydance is stronger after having gone through the M&A cycle.

This just in tonight from Skydance Boss David Ellison as Paramount Global controlling shareholder Shari Redstone says “No” to Skydance’s offer to buy National Amusements. The Top Gun: Maverick and Geostorm producer has acknowledged to staff that Skydance’s bid to merge with Paramount has ended.

After months of negotiations, Paramount‘s controlling shareholder Shari Redstone has broken off merger talks with David Ellison‘s Skydance.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor After more than six months of on-again-off-again talks, Shari Redstone has ended negotiations with David Ellison‘s Skydance Media about a prospective merger with Paramount Global. Redstone is Paramount Global’s controlling shareholder through National Amusements Inc., which owns 77% of the voting shares in Paramount.

Paramount Global, which continues to explore its M&A options, has updated the compensation plans for the three execs in the Office of the CEO and re-upped Chief People Officer Nancy Phillips.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor As an M&A event looms on the horizon for Paramount Global, the three execs in the conglomerate’s “Office of the CEO” are now eligible for stepped-up severance payments in the event of a sale or merger — and the company also will award them cash bonuses for the time they serve as co-CEOs. The move comes as Shari Redstone, Paramount’s controlling shareholder, is evaluating a merger offer from David Ellison’s Skydance Media, which the Paramount Global board’s special committee has recommended.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor From documentaries about war in Ukraine and Gaza to the sweetness of “Bluey” to the earthiness of “Somebody Somewhere” and “Reservation Dogs” to the Mel Brooks canon, the 84th annual Peabody Awards ceremony on Sunday saluted an array of standout TV programs, movies, documentaries, podcasts, video games and more. The respected awards, adminstered by the University of Georgia’s Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communications, were held at the Beverly Wilshire hotel, marking the first time the Peabodys were handed out on the West Coast after decades in New York.

CBS Chief George Cheeks on Paramount Global uncertainty and the future of Broadcast TV, a deep dive into the beloved reality TV series “Traitors,” a conversation about the 80th anniversary of D-Day with the “Masters of the Air” creators and a surprise “White Collar” reboot announcement. Check out a few of the conversations below: As part of the Variety TV FYC Fest, Dakota Fanning (“Ripley”), Jennifer Jason Leigh (‘Fargo”), Ricky Martin (“Palm Royale”), Lewis Pullman (“Outer Range”), Lisa Ann Walter (“Abbot Elementary”) and Greta Lee (“The Moring Show”) joined Variety senior TV features editor Emily Longeretta to discuss their supporting roles on some of this year’s hottest television shows.

After CBS Entertainment President Amy Reisenbach last month permanently closed the door to Blue Bloods continuing beyond its upcoming final 8 episodes this fall, one of Paramount Global’s Office of the CEO members today opened the door to the franchise potentially carrying on.

The long-running CBS series Blue Bloods is ending later this year after 14 seasons, but the franchise might live on through a spinoff series!

A town hall for Paramount Global employees originally scheduled to take place Wednesday has been delayed until June 25.