Paramount cuts 800 staff two days after Super Bowl was biggest ever TV show
The owner of CBS is laying off 800 employees, just two days after its broadcast of Super Bowl LVIII became the most-watched TV program in history.
Paramount Global plans to reduce its global workforce by about 3%, according to sources, andinformed staff on Tuesday of the job cuts.
Bob Bakish, the media giant’s chief executive, announced the move hours after CBS revealed that its broadcast of the Kansas City Chiefs’ overtime triumph over the San Francisco 49ers averaged 123.4 million viewers across television and streaming platforms on Sunday.
“To those with whom we are parting ways, we are incredibly grateful for your hard work and dedication,” Bakish wrote in an internal memo obtained by the Guardian. “Your talents have helped us advance our mission of unleashing the power of content around the world. We are a better company because of you.
“While I realize these changes are in no way easy … I am confident this is the right decision for our future. 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.”
Paramount Global did not respond to an invitation to comment on the cuts. The company owns the Paramount Pictures movie studio; TV networks including Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon and Britain’s Channel 5; and the Paramount+ and Pluto streaming platforms.
In recent months the firm, which is home to film franchises such as Top Gun and Mission: Impossible, as well as the hit television show Yellowstone, has been clear it planned to focus on its biggest global hits – and less on local originals.
Paramount Global had about 24,500 full-time and part-time employees across 37 countries and some 5,800 project-based staff on its payroll at the end of 2022, according to a regulatory filing.