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The Purge at Paramount

Unfortunately for the employees of Paramount, Tuesday’s cuts are just the beginning.

Author

Oliver Darcy
August 13, 2024

In partnership with

Unease, anxiety, and sadness are stirring through Paramount Global.

Shari Redstone’s once high-flying media conglomerate, which has seen its value plummet as the legacy television business that much of its foundation is built upon erodes at a rapid pace, announced the first of three waves of painful cuts on Tuesday.

The cuts are part of a dramatic $500 million cost-saving plan that the company's triumvirate of leaders — George Cheeks, Chris McCarthy, and Brian Robbins — outlined back in June. Those savings, the three co-CEOs said last week, will result in laying off approximately 15% of its U.S. workforce, with a focus on eliminating "redundant functions and streamlining corporate teams."

As part of the budget slashes, Paramount opted to shutter Paramount Television Studios, responsible for splashy shows such as Netflix's "13 Reasons Why" and Amazon Prime Video's "Reacher." In a memo to staffers at the network, Cheeks acknowledged it was a "very difficult day" at the company and announced all current projects in development will move to CBS Studios, the more robust television production wing responsible for shows such as “NCIS” and “Survivor.”

Unfortunately for the employees of Paramount, Tuesday’s cuts are just the beginning. The company did not specify how much of the 15% headcount reduction was implemented in the first phase of cost savings. The leaders simply said that 90% of the cuts will be made by the end of September.

Translation: Employees at the company will need hold their breath for another month or so to learn their fate.

The cuts, of course, come amid a much broader backdrop. Paramount is preparing to merge with David Ellison's Skydance Media, a deal expected to close next year. Meanwhile, the company, which earns the bulk of its revenue from its portfolio of television channels, such as CBS and MTV, took a staggering $6 billion write-down last week — an acceptance that its linear networks are worth a fragment of what they once were and underscoring the turmoil in its legacy television business.

"The industry continues to evolve, and Paramount is at an inflection point where changes must be made to strengthen our business," Cheeks, McCarthy, and Robbins transparently said Tuesday. "And while these actions are often difficult, we are confident in our direction forward."

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The Fourth Estate

Leak Blockage: The three news organizations that were approached with leaked Trump campaign information are opting against publishing any of it. Instead, the three outlets — The NYT, The WaPo, and POLITICO — have simply reported on the fact that they were offered the information, which comes as the FBI investigates the matter. "Their decisions stand in marked contrast to the 2016 presidential campaign, when a Russian hack exposed emails to and from Hillary Clinton’s campaign manager, John Podesta," the AP's David Bauder pointed out. Bauder has more here.

► POLITICO spokesperson Brad Dayspring explained the decision in a statement to CNN's Liam Reilly: "Politico editors made a judgment, based on the circumstances as our journalists understood them at the time, that the questions surrounding the origins of the documents and how they came to our attention were more newsworthy than the material that was in those documents."

OFF THE WIRE

  • The NYT "wants to subject OpenAI's CEO Sam Altman, as well as other top executives, to discovery in its copyright lawsuit against the tech company," Aruni Soni reported. [Bloomberg Law]

  • The Paris Olympics helped boost the "NBC Nightly News" to two weeks of ratings wins. [Deadline]

  • Kaitlan Collins recalled to Stephen Colbert how she interviewed Trump from the back of an Uber: "The Uber driver is turning around. He’s so confused. He’s looking at me, he’s looking at my phone. He’s like, 'Is that whose voice I think that is?'" [Mediaite]

  • 🔌 I spoke to Sara Fischer about launching Status for a larger story she published on journalists opting to go independent. [Axios]

MEDIA MOVES

  • BBC Studios appointed Ben Goldberger as general manager and executive director of editorial content. [BBC]

  • Bloomberg tapped Jennifer Epstein to cover the Harris campaign. [TBN]

  • The NYT named Elena Hecht as a staff editor. [NYT]

The Biz

THE LEDGER

  • "There's a lot of digging to find some dirt" on Jeff Shell as he prepares to take over the company formed by the proposed Paramount-Skydance merger, Anthony D'Alessandro and Dominic Patten report. [Deadline]

  • Kim Masters adds, "Shell's past lingers over Paramount's future." [THR]

  • Meanwhile, Matthew Belloni published a brutal string of anonymous quotes taking aim at David Zaslav. [Puck]

  • And Alex Weprin looks at the disastrous state of the linear television business: "Not only are subscribers declining faster than carriage fees are rising, but advertising dollars are fleeing TV, as the proliferation of ad-supported streaming options provide new places for marketers to spend their budgets." [THR]

  • 👀 “After days of withering scrutiny in court, a judge is seriously considering an injunction against Venu, the joint venture from [Warner Bros. Discovery], Fox, and Disney, over alleged antitrust violations," Eriq Gardner reported. [Puck]

The Information Wars

Donald Trump. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Trump's X-it: On Monday, there was quite a lot of hoopla about Donald Trump returning to Twitter X. But, just one day later, he has effectively disappeared from the Elon Musk-owned platform, retreating back to Truth Social. Trump only posted on X once Tuesday — and it was simply an audio recording of his chat with Musk from the day before. Meanwhile, over on Truth Social, Trump was ranting and raving, as he normally does. Trump posted some 19 times Tuesday on his platform, railing against Kamala Harris and elevating far-right figures and platforms, such as the Gateway Pundit.

🔍️ Zooming in: Trump may have opted to return to Truth Social, given that his personal fortune took a hit when Trump Media & Technology Group's stock plummeted when it seemed he would in fact resume posting regularly on X. The stock, however, continued to slide on Tuesday, closing down nearly 4%.

COMBAT ZONE

  • Ross Lincoln explains why you should not really believe the Elon Musk-Donald Trump interview received 95 million views. [The Wrap]

  • Andrew Egger points out that the Musk-Trump chat was simply ... boring. [Bulwark]

  • Barbara Ortutay outlines how Musk "uses his social platform to amplify his right-wing views." [AP]

  • Charlie Warzel is more blunt: "X is a safe space for the far right." [The Atlantic]

  • "I absolutely HATE the Fake News Media," Trump raged about the coverage of his Musk chat. [Mediaite]

  • The interview did produce one thing: A lawsuit from United Auto Workers against Musk and Trump. [CNN]

  • Musk has also been named alongside J.K. Rowling in a lawsuit for alleged "acts of aggravated cyber harassment." [Variety]

  • So many lawsuits!: X will "continue to pursue antitrust litigation" against the World Federation of Advertisers, even after GARM shut down, Linda Yaccarino told Sara Fischer. [Axios]

  • Jonathan Chait argues the press has a "double standard" — and it's not in Kamala Harris' favor: "The most important way Trump benefits from a double standard is simply that his violations of democratic and civic norms are so widespread that the media have given up on holding him to anything resembling a customary standard of behavior for a presidential candidate." [NY Mag]

  • The Drudge Report put a spotlight on Trump's mental fitness, with a banner headline all Tuesday that read, "TRUMP SLURS THROUGH INTERVIEW; INCREASINGLY BIZARRE CLAIMS." [DRUDGE]

  • Meanwhile, Rupert Murdoch “is not happy” with Trump, Corbin Bollies and Tim Teeman report, citing recent coverage in The WSJ and New York Post. [Daily Beast]

Masters of the Universe

Eric Schmidt. (Screen grab)

Schmidt Says: Former Google boss Eric Schmidt got candid when asked Tuesday about why the search giant has been caught off guard by OpenAI. "Google decided that work-life balance and going home early and working from home was more important than winning. And the reason startups work is because people work like hell," Schmidt said at a Stanford University event. Schmidt cited Elon Musk pushing his employees, saying, "Look at what he gets out of people." The Verge's Alex Heath has more.

TECH TALK

  • 🚨 "A rare bid to break up Alphabet Inc.’s Google is one of the options being considered by the Justice Department after a landmark court ruling found that the company monopolized the online search market," Leah Nylen and Anna Edgerton report, citing sources. [Bloomberg]

  • Google, which spent a lot of time jabbing at Apple on Tuesday, unveiled A.I. powered phones. [NYT]

  • Threads might soon roll out a feature allowing posts on the website to disappear after 24 hours. [TechCrunch]

  • After blocking Instagram for nine days, Turkey restored access to the Meta-owned social media platform. [Reuters]

The Closing Number

Taylor Swift. (Photo by Aldara Zarraoa/Getty Images for TAS Rights Management)

Cruel Summer: Sorry, Taylor Swift fans. Wembley Stadium officials announced Tuesday that those who do not have tickets for her hit "Eras Tour" will not be allowed to tailgate and congregate around the stadium. Unticketed fans will simply be asked to "move on," the venue said. The move follows last week's foiling by authorities of an alleged terrorist plot targeting Swift's Vienna concerts, all three of which were ultimately canceled due to the security threat. Variety's Thania Garcia has more.

FINAL BOW

  • Katy Perry is under investigation in Ibiza for filming without a permit. [The Wrap]

  • "Alien: Romulus" is scoring high marks from those offering first impressions. Personally, it looks too scary for me! [Variety]

  • The film "is expected to rip into the box office with $28 million to $38 million in its first weekend," Rebecca Rubin reports. [Variety]

  • In a Q&A with Zach Baron, George Clooney said he is "a little irritated" with Quentin Tarantino after the famed director said he is not a movie star. [GQ]

  • If you have kids, mark your calendars! "Frozen 3" will hit theaters just in time for Thanksgiving 2027. [Deadline]

  • And if you're an adult and Max subscriber, you can mark your calendars for this one: "Civil War" will hit the streamer on September 14. [Variety]

  • The fourth season of "The Umbrella Academy" debuted second on the Netflix charts. [Deadline]

  • The writers of "Hacks" told Lexy Prez the third season was the most difficult to pen. [THR]

  • Halle Berry revealed she has suffered 10 broken bones while playing in action movies over her career. [Deadline]