Paramount’s CEO is out as the entertainment icon struggles with a changing scene
Meet the 3EO… Paramount boss Bob Bakish stepped down Monday and will be replaced by three execs who’ll share the “office of the CEO.” Bakish pioneered Paramount’s push into streaming as viewers cut the cable cord. Under his leadership, the Hollywood studio launched its streamer, Paramount+, and acquired ad-supported streamer Pluto TV. Also on Monday, Paramount reported that it narrowed its Q1 streaming loss and grew its Paramount+ subscribers to 71M — up nearly 4M in three months. Still, Paramount lost $554M, largely from streaming.
Off-screen drama… Media exec Shari Redstone controls 5% of all Paramount shares through her ownership of holding co National Amusements. But get this: that 5% accounts for 77% of all Class A shares, aka the kind that come with voting rights. Bakish reportedly had concerns about a merger Redstone signed off on with production company Skydance Media, which some shareholders said would unfairly benefit Redstone. (Skydance has since sweetened its deal.) The New York Times reported that Redstone didn’t feel Bakish was moving swiftly enough to secure Paramount’s future in a Netflixified world.
Pause: Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery’s streamers have fast-forwarded past Paramount’s sub #s and are eyeing profitability this year as Paramount+ aims for 2025.
Still: Netflix is the only profitable major streamer, with 270M reported subscribers, more than 2X its closest rival, Disney+.
Old Hollywood’s having an identity crisis… Studio giants have struggled to transition from entertainment’s Golden Age to its Netflix-binge era and find their place in the streamconomy. But their troves of content have made them prime acquisition targets: Disney bought 21st Century Fox, Amazon snapped up MGM, and Comcast got NBCUniversal. Because even as streamers spend billions to churn out new content, it’s hard to beat “The Godfather” and “Titanic” — both made by Paramount.