Bob Bakish is stepping down as CEO of Paramount Global, the company announced Monday, as well as leaving the company’s board of directors. He will be replaced by an “Office of the CEO,” a trio of executives consisting of George Cheeks, CBS president and CEO; Chris McCarthy, president and CEO of Showtime/MTV Entertainment Studios and Paramount Media Networks; and Brian Robbin, CEO of Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon.
In its announcement, Paramount stated that the new leadership group, who will work closely with Paramount CFO Naveen Chopra, is working with the board of directors to develop a “comprehensive, long-range plan to accelerate growth and develop popular content, materially streamline operations, strengthen the balance sheet and continue to optimize the streaming strategy.”
Paramount is currently in talks to merge with Skydance Media, a move that Bakish privately dissented against. In the merger, almost 50% would be owned by Skydance and its private equity backers, while the rest would be owned by common shareholders of Paramount, which would remain publicly traded.
Paramount posted a mixed first-quarter earnings report late Monday. The company saw a revenue of $7.69 billion, less than the $7.73 billion expected by analysts, but reported 62 cents a share for the period, which was more than the anticipated 36 centers per share. Overall, earnings were up 6% compared to last year.
