{"id":118142,"date":"2025-11-04T21:48:10","date_gmt":"2025-11-04T21:48:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/118142\/"},"modified":"2025-11-04T21:48:10","modified_gmt":"2025-11-04T21:48:10","slug":"paramounts-george-cheeks-unveils-cable-tv-leadership-team","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/118142\/","title":{"rendered":"Paramount\u2019s George Cheeks Unveils Cable TV Leadership Team"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tParamount<\/a> has cemented the new leadership of its cable brands such as MTV<\/a>, Comedy Central<\/a> and Nickelodeon<\/a> as it sets out plans to \u201creinvent\u201d these brands.<\/p>\n

\n\tGeorge Cheeks, Chair of TV Media at Skydance-owned Paramount, has named its top executives across these networks, following last week\u2019s layoffs, which saw the departure of a phalanx of cable employees.<\/a> It also follows the departure of Chris McCarthy<\/a>, former co-CEO of Paramount Global who ran Showtime & MTV Entertainment Studios and Paramount Media Networks.<\/p>\n

\n\tLaurel Weir will lead programming for MTV, Comedy Central, Nickelodeon and other cable networks, and will also oversee the Global Programming Acquisitions Group across TV Media. Weir rose up the company having joined in research.<\/p>\n

\n\tSitarah Pendelton will oversee MTV series and specials including its RuPaul\u2019s Drag Race franchise, while Jeannie Scalzo will lead the MTV business alongside Weir. Pendelton was previously EVP, Unscripted Series, Paramount Media Networks and Paramount+, while Scalzo was EVP, Brand Partnerships at Paramount Media Networks.<\/p>\n

\n\tAt Nickelodeon, Jules Borkent, who has been with the kids channel since 1998, largely on the international side, will oversee Nickelodeon Kids & Family\u2019s business and strategy. Ashley Kaplan and Alec Botnick will oversee its animation studio across digital, television and streaming, overseeing Spongebob Squarepants and Paw Patrol as well as being in charge of developing new franchises. Kaplan, who was previously EVP, Unscripted and Digital Franchise Studios, and Botnick, who remains EVP, Comedy Development, Head of Animation and Alternative, at CBS Studios will also oversee animated development across CBS, Comedy Central, and MTV.<\/p>\n

\n\tAs evidenced by yesterday\u2019s Jon Stewart reup<\/a> at The Daily Show<\/a>, Ari Pearce will lead Comedy Central, overseeing the late-night show and South Park<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n\tTrevor Rose, who was EVP, Head of Global Talent and Content Development for Showtime\/MTVE, will lead talent and content strategy. Having gutted its music department in the recent cuts, Nadja Webb, who is EVP, Programming Operations & Business and Legal Affairs for BET<\/a>, will oversee music initiatives while keeping her previous role.<\/p>\n

\n\tAcross TV Media, Bryon Rubin is COO & CFO, Mike Benson leads marketing, Allison Brightman and Jeeun Kim oversee business affairs, Whitney Delich run human resources, Chris Ender oversees communications, Jeff Gerttula runs digital, Liz Miller is in charge of production, Jeannie Scalzo remains in charge of brand strategy and IP monetization, Tiffany Smith-Anoa\u2019i leads content engagement and partnerships and Laurel Weir continues to run strategic insights and research.<\/p>\n

\n\tCheeks thanked staff for their \u201cresilience during this difficult time of transformation\u201d.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cAs we move forward, I want to share our vision for the newly aligned TV Media division \u2013 a powerhouse of iconic brands and creative talent. This group includes CBS alongside BET, Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon and more. These brands have entertained audiences and shaped culture for decades. While the industry has changed considerably, their brand identities and creative voices are meaningful and remain strong. Together, we will reimagine how we leverage their power across platforms in ways that reflect today\u2019s audiences and tomorrow\u2019s possibilities,\u201d he wrote in an internal note to staff.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cOur purpose is clear: to reinvent and strengthen our brands to build a stronger future that\u2019s rooted in exceptional storytelling across entertainment, news and sports. We\u2019ll celebrate each brand, while leaning into franchises, driving revenue, growing viewership and deepening engagement across platforms. Our cable brands will focus on a more curated slate, optimizing programming and marketing resources to amplify what resonates most. That means leaning into franchises like Spongebob, Paw Patrol, RuPaul\u2019s Drag Race, South Park, Ms. Pat and The Daily Show, while continuing to develop new IP across our studios and seeking new ways to amplify and connect with audiences,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

\n\tFollowing the merger, Cheeks admitted that the linear business was \u201csuper challenging\u201d <\/a>but highlighted its \u201cincredibly iconic franchises\u201d.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWe\u2019re all seeing the pay cable business shifting over to streaming. So, there\u2019ll be a lot of conversations about what iconic franchises we want to continue, shift maybe to streaming, etc\u2026. I do feel like there\u2019s a lot to preserve there. There\u2019s a lot of great, iconic franchises,\u201d Cheeks added.<\/p>\n

\n\tSimilarly, Paramount President Jeff Shell noted that Paramount\u2019s cable portfolion was a \u201clittle bit different\u201d than its rivals. \u201cWe have less of our economics of the company on cable because they decline so much. But the brands are much more defined. You look at a brand like BET, which is a pretty strong brand that\u2019s going to be a pretty important building block of our of our streaming strategy. So we\u2019re thinking about the cable networks not as declining linear assets that we need to spin off or deal with somehow. We\u2019re thinking of them as brands that we have to redefine.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Paramount has cemented the new leadership of its cable brands such as MTV, Comedy Central and Nickelodeon as…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":118143,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[83614,62388,156,10940,111,139,76355,69,421,27811,69004,437],"class_list":{"0":"post-118142","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tv","8":"tag-bet","9":"tag-comedy-central","10":"tag-entertainment","11":"tag-mtv","12":"tag-new-zealand","13":"tag-newzealand","14":"tag-nickelodeon","15":"tag-nz","16":"tag-paramount","17":"tag-south-park","18":"tag-the-daily-show","19":"tag-tv"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118142","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=118142"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118142\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/118143"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=118142"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=118142"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=118142"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}