Paramount, the parent company of CBS News, BET, MTV, Nickelodeon, dozens of local TV stations, and Paramount Pictures, announced in an internal memo from top executives to employees that the first round of job cuts is set to begin.
The multinational media conglomerate in Manhattan plans to reduce its US-based workforce by 15%, or about 2,000 workers, by the end of September. This is troubling news for the company that struggles with migrating one-time TV viewers to its streaming video platform and an even bigger warning that the traditional TV market languishes.
"The industry continues to evolve, and Paramount is at an inflection point where changes must be made to strengthen our business. And while these actions are often difficult, we are confident in our direction forward," Brian Robbins, the head of Paramount Pictures; George Cheeks, the head of CBS; and Chris McCarthy, the head of Showtime and MTV Entertainment Studios, wrote in an internal memo to employees, first obtained by New York Times.
The there co-CEOs said, "As we continue to advance our plan, we announced on our earnings call last week that we will be reducing our US-based workforce by approximately 15%, focusing on redundant functions and streamlining corporate teams."
"This process will take place in three phases, starting today and continuing through the end of the year. We expect 90% of these actions to be complete by the end of September," they added.
The Wall Street Journal noted, "Paramount Television Studios is shutting down this week as part of a cost-cutting effort by parent company Paramount Global."
Last week, during an earnings call, Paramount's top executives said the company would incur $300 million to $400 million in charges related to the restructuring. It also took a second-quarter impairment charge of $5.98 billion across its cable networks.
Variety provided more color on Paramount's struggles:
Paramount is one of several big U.S. media companies struggling with the migration of one-time TV viewers to streaming video. While the company owns the big CBS broadcast network, home to many of its big-audience sports properties, the bulk of the Paramount portfolio is centered around a cluster of cable networks that only show a few original programs and have seen the communities that once clustered around them dissipate over the past decade.
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The layoffs come as other major media players, such as Warner Bros. Discovery, the parent of CNN, TNT, and HBO, announced layoffs in mid-July. Just weeks ago, Disney cut 140 employees, or 2% of its workforce, in the television division. In news media, the cuts are worsening by month, with Axios laying off 10% of its employees in recent days.
Meanwhile, the emergence of X, the world's news platform, is becoming the status quo in how people retrieve information, mostly free from government and corporate media censorship.
On Monday night, the conversation between Donald Trump and X owner Elon Musk generated a billion views.
The death of legacy media is accelerating...
