Big Changes Could Be Coming to Paramount+ and CBS

Paramount is making some surprising changes—and staying the course in some surprising ways—after their giant merger.

On August 7, Skydance Media became the de-facto boss of Paramount Global after spending $8.4 billion on the company’s assets. In a press release the day of, Skydance CEO David Ellison said the merger was “an exciting and pivotal moment as we prepare to bring Paramount’s legacy as a Hollywood institution into the future of entertainment.”

Unsurprisingly, Paramount is now headed for a massive round of layoffs. New Paramount president Jeff Shell said the company is trying to save $2 billion, which means sweeping layoffs in every department.

What is surprising, though, is the company’s plans for Paramount+. Previously, all shows on Paramount+ were developed by Paramount themselves. Now, that barrier is coming down.

Outside companies—like Warner Bros. Discovery and Sony Television—will be able to produce shows that air exclusively on Paramount+, bolstering the number of new shows and movies on the service. However, as a consequence, Paramount no longer plans to produce any films that will be direct-to-streaming on Paramount+.

Paramount’s plans for CBS are also interesting. Unlike NBCUniversal and Warner Bros Discovery, the two other media companies that own a movie studio, a TV studio, and several cable channels, Paramount is not planning to spin off CBS and its channels into a separate company.

Channels owned by Paramount include CBS, MTV, Comedy Central, Nickelodeon, BET, and more.

“You look at a brand like BET, which is a pretty strong brand that’s going to be a pretty important building block of our of our streaming strategy,” Shell said in an interview. “So we’re thinking about the cable networks not as declining linear assets that we need to spin off or deal with somehow. We’re thinking of them as brands that we have to redefine.”