Paramount Global Begins Lay-offs of 800 US Staff Amidst Industry Shifts and Challenges
Paramount Global has begun the layoffs of approximately 800 employees based in the United States, with affected individuals being informed of the decision yesterday. This move, which was hinted at last month by CEO Bob Bakish, represents a reduction of about 3% of the company’s total global workforce.
Bakish conveyed the news in an internal memo, expressing the challenging nature of the decision: “As we discussed at Bob Live in January, our top priority for 2024 is returning our company to earnings growth. Achieving this goal necessitates growing revenue while also reducing costs. Unfortunately, part of this effort involves the difficult process of bidding farewell to some of our highly valued colleagues across Paramount. We will be notifying impacted employees based in the U.S. by the end of the business day today.”
The announcement came shortly after Paramount-owned CBS disclosed that its broadcast of Sunday’s Super Bowl LVIII had garnered the highest viewership in history, with an average of 123.4 million viewers across both television and streaming platforms.
The recent layoffs are part of a series of workforce reductions and organizational reshufflings Paramount has undertaken in recent months. This includes the consolidation of the Showtime and Paramount+ brands which led to 120 job losses, reductions at the Smithsonian Channel, and the integration of Showtime and MTV Entertainment Studios teams.
In late January, Bakish informed staff that due to various challenges, including “a soft ad market, a volatile macroeconomic environment, and two historic strikes,” Paramount would continue to reduce its global workforce.
The company has also restructured its strategy to concentrate more on “Hollywood hits” and produce fewer local and international originals to drive earnings growth and profitability for its streaming services, including Halo and Yellowstone SVOD Paramount+.
Amid these changes, there have been rumours of potential sales involving Paramount Global. National Amusements, the majority shareholder, is reportedly considering offers for its assets. Notably, media tycoon Byron Allen proposed a $30 billion bid for Paramount last month. Discussions about acquiring National Amusements’ stake have also reportedly taken place between Skydance, RedBird Capital Partners, and Apollo Global Management.
Meanwhile, Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav and Paramount chief Bob Bakish reportedly met in New York City late last year to discuss a potential merger.
Paramount is currently valued at around $9 billion and is grappling with a debt load exceeding $15 billion, as it, like many other U.S. studios venturing into direct-to-consumer streaming, has faced challenges in making Paramount+ profitable with shows like Halo and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.
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