Paramount Global Layoffs: Paramount TV Studios Combines Development & Current, Other Senior Executives Impacted

Brent Lang Executive Editor Sean Cercone has stepped down as head of Broadway Licensing Global. It’s unclear why he left the company that he acquired in 2019. Broadway Licensing Global has announced who will lead the company on an interim basis: Ted Chapin will serve as interim CEO and Dan Markley will be interim COO.

Matt Donnelly Senior Film Writer Paramount Pictures has boarded the new horror film “Vicious,” led by Dakota Fanning and directed by Bryan Bertino. Fanning will star as a young woman who is left a strange present by a late-night visitor, and quickly realizes she is fighting for her life after slipping down a disturbing rabbit hole contained inside the gift.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor The inevitable M&A question came toward the end of Paramount Global‘s hourlong conference call with Wall Street analysts on Wednesday — a session that undoubtedly would have been more contentious for Paramount leaders if they hadn’t started out by serving up sacrifices for the greater good of free cash flow and profit. Paramount Global CEO Bob Bakish waved off the inquiry from Bank of America Merrill Lynch media analyst Jessica Reif Ehrlich about the tidal wave of media speculation about suitors coming (and going) for the company with a breezy “We’re always looking for ways to create shareholder value.” But it was clear from the earlier commentary and business updates from Bakish and chief financial officer Naveen Chopra that they are charting a course for this year and next to take streamer Paramount+ to the promised land of profitability and keeps the company entact as a standalone entity.

Paramount Global expects to take a $1 billion charge in the current quarter due to ongoing programming shifts and the layoffs it announced earlier this month.

Paramount Global‘s earnings in the fourth quarter edged Wall Street forecasts, but a double-digit slide in advertising dragged down total revenue by 6%.

Naman Ramachandran MTV Staying Alive Foundation, Paramount Global and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation have partnered on “In Bloom,” a short film anthology focusing on gender equity. Directed by emerging female filmmakers from Nigeria, Kenya, India, the U.S. and Brazil, the anthology addresses a range of issues including period poverty, child marriage, gender-based violence, HIV self- stigma, family planning and women’s economic empowerment.

Aimee Lou Wood Comedy ‘Daddy Issues’ Rounds Out Cast

EXCLUSIVE: The news when Deadline speaks to Lisa Kramer is the launch of a Paramount+ branded hub with African pay-TV giant MultiChoice. But a conversation with the President, International TV Licensing at Paramount Global Content Distribution (PGCD), offers a much wider insight into the world of TV in 2024.

Kevin Macdonald Helming Klitschko Doc For Sky

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic Oscar-nominated producer/songwriter Mark Ronson has put together an FYC video — not campaigning for his own Academy Award nomination for the music of “Barbie,” but for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame bid for Foreigner, the founding lineup of which happens to have his stepfather, Mick Jones, as a cornerstone. The video, posted on Ronson’s Instagram account, features Dave Grohl, Jack Black, Slash, the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Chad Smith and Queens of the Stone Age’s Josh Homme (along with Ronson himself) asserting Foreigner’s suitability for Rock Hall induction.

EXCLUSIVE: Veteran film and television producers Sean and Bryan Furst have signed a multi-project development deal with Miramax TV via their Global Position Studios.

K.J. Yossman Banijay U.K. have invested in Immovable Studios, the production outfit co-founded by hip-hop artist, author and entrepreneur Akala and his business partner and manager Chanelle Newman.

Matt Donnelly Senior Film Writer 101 Studios, the film and TV production entity run by David Glasser, has named Gray Krakower as executive vice president of brand partnerships. Karkower joins the company behind “Yellowstone” and many spinoffs in the lucrative Taylor Sheridan universe from Endeavor/IMG. There he served clients as a VP of global licensing and branding, working on accounts like Lionsgate Films (“John Wick,” “Saw,” “The Hunger Games”), gaming giant Fortnite and on country legend Dolly Parton’s consumer products.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Noggin, Nickelodeon’s interactive learning platform for preschool-age kids, is shutting down after almost 10 years, Variety has confirmed. Noggin is a casualty of Paramount Global’s companywide layoffs this week, which resulted in about 800 staffers being let go. The entire team that ran Noggin was laid off, as first reported by trade publication Kisdscreen.

Longtime Lifetime PR executive Kannie Yu LaPack is expanding her oversight with a promotion to EVP, Publicity, Public Affairs and Social Media, for Lifetime, LMN and A+E Studios.

UPDATED: The companywide layoffs at Paramount Global on Tuesday impacted about 20 employees at CBS News, including correspondents Catherine Herridge and Jeff Pegues, several sources said.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Approximately 20 CBS News staffers were given termination notices Tuesday as a result of broader layoffs taking place across Paramount Global. The cuts extended across CBS News operations in Washington, D.C., New York and Los Angeles, according to two people familiar with the matter, and included two of the news operation’s most prominent correspondents, Jeff Pegues and Catherine Herridge, these people said. A CBS News spokesperson did not respond immediately to a query seeking comment.

Paramount Global has begun a planned round of layoffs, telling U.S.-based employees that those affected by the cutbacks will be notified by the end of Tuesday.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Paramount Global, amid a swirl of M&A discussions, is laying off about 800 employees worldwide — an estimated 3% of its headcount — as it looks to trim costs. CEO Bob Bakish announced the layoffs in a memo Tuesday to staff that was obtained by Variety. According to the memo, U.S.

EXCLUSIVE: We are hearing that Apollo Global Management, who was mulling an offer for National Amusements, the Redstone family company that controls Paramount Global, is no longer considering that now.