Bob Bakish steps down as head of Paramount

Bob Bakish is stepping down as head of media conglomerate Paramount, the company announced Monday.

Bakish’s resignation comes as the giant traditional media brand is negotiating a potential sale with Skydance after months of fielding offers from potential buyers.

Following Bakish’s departure, the company announced that it will create a “CEO Office” comprised of three senior executives, George Cheeks, Chris McCarthy and Brian Robbins, each of whom will lead key departments within the company. did.

“Paramount Global has outstanding assets and we strongly believe in the company’s future value creation potential,” said Shari Redstone, Chairman of the Board. “I have the utmost confidence in George, Chris and Brian. They have both the ability to develop and execute a new strategic plan and the ability to work together as true partners. We are excited about what the combination means for Paramount Global and the opportunities ahead.”

Paramount owns major media brands including CBS, MTV, and Nickelodeon.

Bakish joined Viacom in 1997, became Viacom’s CEO in 2016, and became CEO of the combined company acquired by Paramount in 2019.

His resignation comes as Paramount told investors that linear TV advertising revenue is down 15%, which is due to “the continued weakness in the global advertising market, with a 5 percentage point impact from a decline in political advertising.” This comes just a few weeks after we reported that it was reflecting “.

Bakish told investors in February that Paramount was on track to become profitable in streaming by the end of 2025.