‘What Are We Missing?’ Paramount Global Launches Image-Burnishing Campaign to Tout its Popcorn Hits

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor Tanya Giles is stepping down as chief programming officer for streaming at Paramount Global. Giles was promoted in June 2021 to help oversee all streaming content programming efforts for the media conglomerate that has invested heavily in its Paramount+ streaming platform. News of Giles’ departure was first reported by Deadline. The move comes as Paramount Global has been taking steps to further streamline its content, production and network operations under an increasingly smaller number of leaders. In late January, the company unveiled the plan to consolidate its stalwart pay TV cabler Showtime with the Paramount+ platform.

Paramount Global has named Kristin Southey EVP, Investor Relations, effective immediately. She succeedes Anthony DiClemente, who will remain with the media company through mid-April to ensure a smooth transition.

Matt Donnelly Senior Film Writer Republic Pictures, an historic movie label founded in 1935 and shuttered in 1967, has been revived by parent company Paramount Global. The banner will function as an acquisitions play, releasing titles acquired by Paramount Global Content Distribution. “We’ve chosen to revitalize the Republic banner given its storied history of delivering popular movies to a global audience, ” said Dan Cohen, Paramount chief content licensing officer and newly-named president of Republic Pictures. “With our best-in-class global distribution teams working to identify the best homes around the world, we aim to continue that legacy by offering audiences great entertainment across all genres.”

Shari Lynette Carpenter, Miko Lim and Oscar Rene Lozoya have been selected to participate in the 2023-2025 Paramount Directors Initiative, Paramount Global announced on Thursday.

Bob Bakish, chief executive of Paramount Global, saw total compensation in 2022 of $32 million, up from $20 million the year before.

Paramount Global is shuffling its board of directors, including the addition of Dawn Ostroff, who will serve as an independent non-executive director, the company announced Friday. The filing also noted that Bob Bakish would be making $31.5 million.Ostoroff’s seat is pending a stockholder vote that will take place at Paramount’s 2023 Annual Meeting of Stockholders later this year. Bakish, who serves as Paramount Global’s president will be receiving a pay boost to $31.5 million as a result of $16 million stock awards grant.

William Earl Former Spotify, Conde Nast and CW executive Dawn Ostroff is set to join the board of directors for Paramount Global in May. Ostroff is poised to join the board as an independent director at Paramount Global’s annual meeting on May 8. Incumbent board members Candace Beinecke and Ronald Nelson will not stand for re-election at that meeting, which will bring the number of board members to 11, including Ostroff. “We are thrilled to welcome Dawn to Paramount’s Board at such an exciting moment in our evolution,” said Paramount Global chair Shari Redstone. “We believe her leadership, diverse expertise in content strategy and her long track record of driving transformation will prove invaluable as we seek to continue building on the success of Paramount’s global multiplatform strategy.”

Dawn Ostroff, a seasoned media executive who most recently served as chief content and advertising business officer at Spotify, will joining the Paramount Global board, the company announced today.

EXCLUSIVE: Joaquina Kalukango (Lovecraft Country), Lonnie Chavis (This is Us), Rob Morgan (Mudbound), Ryan O’Nan (Queen of the South), and Justin Hurtt-Dunkley (Mare Of Easttown) have been tapped for key recurring roles opposite David Oyelowo and Dennis Quaid in Bass Reeves, from Yellowstone co-creator/showrunner Taylor Sheridan.

BreAnna Bell Garrett Hedlund has been cast in a recurring guest role in Taylor Sheridan’s forthcoming “Bass Reeves” series set at Paramount+, Variety has learned exclusively. He’ll portray Garrett Montgomery, a so-called posse man of the era who Bass hires for his riding know-how and expertise of the area. She joins previously announced stars including lead and executive producer David Oyelowo, and series regulars Lauren E. Banks, Demi Singleton, Forrest Goodluck and Barry Pepper. Dennis Quaid and Grantham Coleman will also appear in recurring roles. Hedlund can currently be seen in Paramount+’s “Tulsa King” and will next star in the film “The Tutor,” which is scheduled March 24th theater release. He recently completed production on the films “Desperation Road” opposite Mel Gibson and “The Marsh King’s Daughter,” co-starring Ben Mendelson and Daisy Ridley. His other credits include Lee Daniels’ “Mudbound,” “On the Road,” “Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk,” “Mojave,” “Inside Llewyn Davis,” “Pan,” “Unbroken,” “Tron: Legacy,” and “Country Strong.”

Sean “Diddy” Combs has just joined the potential purchase party of Black Entertainment Television (BET), with the mogul setting his sights on majority stake, TheWrap has confirmed.A source close to Combs says the Grammy award-winning musician and record label executive  is “exploring the opportunity to purchase BET as a part of his strategy to build a Black-owned global media powerhouse,” Variety was the first to report. The source added that conversations around Diddy buying majority stake in the network has yet to happen. Diddy is the latest to take interest in the acquisitions of the network, following behind Tyler Perry, Byron Allen and Miami-based media company Group Black, which was founded by Richelieu Dennis, Bonin Bough, and its CEO Travis Montaque. Under the umbrella of BET Media Group lies brands BET, BET+, BET Studios and VH1, which was to the group from Paramount Media Networks in a restructuring rearrangement. This would be another lucrative entrepreneurial business move for Diddy, who founded media company Revolt in 2013.

BET, joining fellow media moguls Tyler Perry and Byron Allen as they vie to purchase a majority stake of BET Media Group amid reports that owner Paramount Global is exploring a sale of the asset, Variety has confirmed. Run by CEO Scott Mills, BET Media Group includes BET, BET+, VH1 (which was moved under the group in a restructuring at Paramount last November) and BET’s production arm, BET Studios. A source close to Combs tells Variety that the global music icon and record executive turned multi-industry entrepreneur is “exploring the opportunity to purchase BET as a part of his strategy to build a Black-owned global media powerhouse.”

former Showtime leader David Nevins’ offer to buy the network for about $3 billion.“Yeah, we got an unsolicited offer for Showtime. We looked at it,” Bakish said. “And the reality is, it wasn’t that interesting to us.

Paramount Global today announced a new brand positioning and trade campaign around the tag ‘Popular is Paramount’ to reflect “the company’s indisputable strength in making popular content and content popular for every audience.”

Tyler Perry is in talks to purchase a majority stake of BET Media Group amid reports that parent company Paramount Global is exploring a sale of the asset, Variety has confirmed. Perry currently owns a minority stake in the operation run by CEO Scott Mills, which includes cablers BET and VH1, and also produces a large portion of the programming available on BET and streamer BET+, which he helped launch in 2019. Also among BET’s divisions is production company BET Studios, which counts Kenya Barris, Rashida Jones and Aaron Rahsaan Thomas as minority stake holders. Perry and BET have a long history, as the network helped fund his first feature, 2005’s “Diary of a Mad Black Woman.” In 2017, Perry endeavored on a long-term film deal with Paramount, with a TV deal that began in May 2020. The partnership has been a lucrative and successful endeavor for Perry, Paramount Global president and CEO Bob Bakish and BET Networks president Scott Mills.

latest earnings call that Paramount+’s integration of Showtime will officially launch in the third quarter. As part of the move, the company is raising its prices for Paramount+ subscriptions. The top tier of Paramount+ will rise to $11.99 per month from $9.99 per month.

UPDATED with Tyler Perry interest: Paramount Global is talking with Tyler Perry about a deal for BET Media as the conglom explores a sale of a majority stake in the division.

Paramount Global is in early exploratory talks to sell a majority stake in BET Media.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer Paramount Global disclosed on Friday that it will pay $122.5 million to settle lawsuits from Viacom shareholders arising from the company’s merger with CBS. In a securities filing, the company revealed that it has agreed to settle the class action litigation now pending in the Delaware Court of Chancery. The settlement still requires judicial approval. The plaintiffs had alleged that Paramount Global’s chairwoman, Shari Redstone, ousted board members in a “tyrannical” effort to merge the two companies. The suit alleged that CBS stock was overpriced in the merger, and that Viacom was undervalued, causing harm to Viacom shareholders.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter Demi Singleton is the latest addition to the cast of the “Bass Reeves” series at Paramount+, Variety has learned exclusively. Singleton will appear in the period drama as a series regular opposite series lead David Oyelowo, who will star as the titular legendary lawman. Additional cast members include Barry Pepper, Dennis Quaid, Forrest Goodluck, Lauren E. Banks, and Grantham Coleman. Per the official logline, the show “will bring the legendary lawman of the wild west to life. Reeves, known as the greatest frontier hero in American history, worked in the post-Reconstruction era as a federal peace officer in the Indian Territory, capturing over 3,000 of the most dangerous criminals without ever being wounded.”