Layoffs will be hitting 25% of employees across the Showtime, MTV Entertainment Studios and Paramount Media Networks groups in the U.S. Tuesday, following months of internal deliberations about integration amid Showtime’s rebranding into Paramount+ With Showtime.
Additionally, MTV News — which was significantly affected by layoffs more than five years ago — will be shutting down. Other units, most of which are operations, will be shuttered as well.
In a memo to staff, Showtime/MTV Entertainment Studios and Paramount Media Networks president Chris McCarthy said that, despite Paramount’s “success in streaming, we continue to feel pressure from broader economic headwinds like many of our peers,” and that “senior leaders in coordination with HR have been working together over the past few months to determine the optimal organization for the current and future needs of our business.”
“As a result, we have made the very hard but necessary decision to reduce our domestic team by approximately 25%,” McCarthy said. “This is a tough yet important strategic realignment of our group. Through the elimination of some units and by streamlining others, we will be able to reduce costs and create a more effective approach to our business as we move forward. Today we will notify employees whose positions are being impacted with leaders communicating the news directly to those teams/or individuals. These meetings will be followed by individual 1:1s with our HR partners.”
McCarthy’s group will be consolidated into “two functions”: Studios, encompassing Showtime and MTV Entertainment Studios; and networks, “combining nine separate teams into one portfolio group.” The affected Paramount-owned networks include Nick, MTV, Comedy Central, Paramount Network, CMT, Smithsonian, TV Land, Logo and Pop TV.
(Excerpt) Read more in: Variety