After CEO’s Ouster, Paramount Isn’t Fielding Any Questions
Less than a half-hour after Paramount formally announced the departure of CEO Bob Bakish, the company declined to take questions from analysts during a decidedly terse first-quarter earnings call.
Clocking in at a swift nine minutes, the hyper-accelerated investors’ update served primarily as a forum through which to introduce Paramount’s triumvirate of division heads—CBS boss George Cheeks, studio capo Brian Robbins and cable chief Chris McCarthy—who’ll now lead the company as part of a cooperative effort dubbed the “Office of the CEO.”
The unconventional decision to forgo the standard post-presentation Q&A allowed Paramount to dodge any inquiries into the status of its ongoing merger talks with David Ellison’s Skydance Media. If industry scuttlebutt is anything to go by, Bakish’s vocal opposition to a deal with Skydance made him fall out of favor with Paramount chair Shari Redstone.
Shareholders aren’t crazy about the proposal either, which would see Skydance buy out Redstone’s Class A voting shares for some $2 billion, whereupon Paramount would acquire Skydance for as much as $5 billion in stocks. An exclusive bargaining window for the talks is set to expire on Friday, whereupon a rival faction led by Apollo Global Management and Sony could swoop in with an all-cash offer said to be worth $26 billion.
Since joining Paramount precursor Viacom in 1997, Bakish had climbed steadily up the leadership ladder, becoming CEO in 2016. Three years later, Bakish was named CEO of the combined Viacom-CBS Corp. In addition to departing the C-suite, Bakish is also leaving the company’s board of directors.
Bakish’s ouster comes on the heels of CBS Sports chairman Sean McManus’ retirement and the departure of the network’s top sales execs. John Bogusz, a 26-year veteran who sold inventory for eight Super Bowls that aired on CBS, announced that he’d be hanging up his cleats during a March Madness presser, while Jo Ann Ross, who’d earned bragging rights as broadcast TV’s most-tenured sales exec, said she would be packing it in just last week.
During his short time on the mic Monday afternoon, Cheeks thanked Bakish for his “many years of leadership and steadfast support of Paramount’s brands, businesses and people.” Cheeks went on to tout the company’s “incredible assets … and the amazing people who make it all possible.”
After the triumvirate had their say, chief financial officer Naveen Chopra gave investors a quick rundown of the quarter’s highlights. “Sports continued to over-deliver,” Chopra said, noting that TV advertising grew 14% to $2.58 billion, reflecting a 23-percentage-point benefit from CBS’ broadcast of Super Bowl LVIII.
After Chopra finished his remarks, the earnings call ended with the familiar strains of the Mission: Impossible theme song.
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