Viacom and CBS Shake Up Executive Ranks Ahead of Combination
November 10 2019 - 5:37PM
Dow Jones News
By Joe Flint
Viacom Inc. and CBS Corp. are realigning the leadership of their
creative operations in advance of the expected closing of their
merger in early December, people familiar with the matter said.
The restructuring will result in consolidation among the cable
programming and digital operations of the two companies. Viacom and
CBS have already detailed combinations of their advertising sales
and content distribution units.
The new structure is expected to be announced Monday.
Two content units that will continue to operate independently
after the merger are CBS Television Studios, the production arm of
CBS and Paramount Television, its counterpart at Viacom, a person
briefed on the plans said.
As a result of the moves, several Viacom and CBS executives will
be given additional responsibilities. Also, two senior Viacom
executives will depart the company, the people familiar with the
organizational changes said.
Chris McCarthy, who oversees Viacom's MTV,VH1, CMT and Logo
cable channels, will become president of entertainment and youth
brands and add Comedy Central, TV Land and Paramount Network to his
portfolio as well as CBS's Smithsonian Channel. He will continue to
report to Bob Bakish, the chief executive of Viacom who will retain
that title at ViacomCBS Inc., which will be the name of the merged
entity.
Nickelodeon and its sister channels and production studio will
continue to be under Brian Robbins who will also now oversee the
digital platform AwesomenessTV, which Viacom acquired last year. He
also reports to Mr. Bakish.
Kent Alterman, who currently runs Comedy Central, TV Land and
Paramount Network, will depart the company after the merger closes.
Mr. Alterman has Viacom ties of nearly 20 years. He has run Comedy
Central since 2016 and added oversight of TV Land and Paramount
Networks last year.
Successful shows developed under Mr. Alterman at Comedy Central
include "Key & Peele," "Broad City" and "Inside Amy
Schumer."
Also departing after the deal closes is Sarah Levy, chief
operating officer of Viacom's Media Networks group, which includes
its U.S. cable networks and international operations. In that role,
she oversaw business operations but had little involvement in the
creative direction of the networks. She won't be replaced.
Ms. Levy has been with Viacom for over 20 years. Most of that
time was spent at Nickelodeon where she rose to chief operating
officer. She was named to her current role in early 2018.
Mr.Alterman didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
Ms. Levy declined to comment.
David Nevins, the chief creative officer of CBS and the chairman
and chief executive of Showtime Network, will add Viacom's BET
Network to his responsibilities. Mr. Nevins will report to Mr.
Bakish regarding Showtime and BET and CBS Chief Executive Joe
Ianniello in his role as creative chief of that company.
Mr. Nevins will also chair a newly created programming council
of all the Viacom and CBS creative operations. The council is aimed
at encouraging the various creative units to work closely together,
the person familiar with the plans said.
The digital operations of Viacom and CBS will report to Mark
DeBevoise, chief executive of CBS Interactive. He will report to
Mr. Bakish on matters related to Viacom digital operations and
continue to report to Mr. Ianniello regarding CBS Interactive.
Pluto TV, the advertiser-supported streaming service Viacom
acquired earlier this year, will continue to be overseen by Mr.
Bakish.
Write to Joe Flint at joe.flint@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 10, 2019 17:22 ET (22:22 GMT)
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