Paramount laying off 800 staff
FEBRUARY 14, 2024 13.36 EUROPE/LONDON BY JULIAN CLOVER

Paramount Global is issuing redundancy notices to some 800 staff, just days after its Super Bowl coverage drew a record audience of 123.4 million viewers across the CBS broadcast network and Paramount+ streaming service.

In a move that’s becoming familiar across the media landscape, the company is looking to cut costs and return to growth.

Its understood most of the layoffs are in the United States, although there are also likely to be job losses in its international offices.

“These adjustments will help enable us to build on our momentum and execute our strategic vision for the year ahead – and I firmly believe we have much to be excited about,” wrote CEO Bob Bakish in a memo widely seen by the media.

Staff were warned about the impending cuts in an earlier memo, released last month.

Paramount intends to “maximize content with the biggest impact,” such as film franchises Top Gun and Mission: Impossible, as well as the TV hit Yellowstone, as it concentrates on the “most powerful, resonant franchises, films and series”.

Last month it emerged that David Ellison and other investors, including his father Larry, were in talks about buying a majority stake in National Amusements from the Redstone family.

There have also been early talks with Warner Bros. Discovery.