ViacomCBS Taps Multiple Top Execs to Lead Paramount+ Content Strategy

ViacomCBS has promoted a number of its top executives in a broader restructuring and expansion of the executive team overseeing Paramount+’s programming strategy. The new team, announced Wednesday, will be led by Tanya Giles, the general manager of MTV Entertainment Group, who will step into the role of chief programming officer of streaming. In the role, a newly created one for the company, Giles will be tasked with overseeing all of the programming strategies at both subscription streamer Paramount+, which debuted in early March, and Pluto TV. She’ll report to Tom Ryan, who was named president and CEO of ViacomCBS’ streaming division last October in the company's previous streaming overhaul. Giles will be joined by several executives from around the company who will add Paramount+ programming to their roster of responsibilities. George Cheeks, the president and CEO of CBS, will now also serve as chief content officer of news and sports for Paramount+, responsible for bringing CBS News and CBS sports content to the streaming service. Jim Gianopulos, the chairman and CEO of Paramount Pictures, will now also oversee the film slate at Paramount+ as chief content officer of movies. David Nevins, the chairman and CEO of Showtime Networks, will now also serve as chief content officer of scripted originals at Paramount+, and will work on building out additional dramas and comedies for the service. But the executive has quietly dropped the title of chief creative officer of CBS, where he had overseen programming across all CBS properties since 2018. Other executive moves include Chris McCarthy, the president of MTV Entertainment Group, who will now also serve as chief content officer of unscripted entertainment and adult animation at Paramount+; Bruce Gillmer, ViacomCBS’s president of music, music talent, programming and events, who will now also serve as chief content officer of music for Paramount+; and Brian Robbins, ViacomCBS’s president of kids and family entertainment, who will now also serve as chief content officer of kids and family at Paramount+, overseeing both films and movies in that genre. Scott Mills will continue overseeing BET+ in his capacity as president of BET Networks. Kelly Day, ViacomCBS Networks International’s president of streaming, will continue in her role and will work closely with Giles and with the newly minted executive team to execute global streaming strategy. Nicole Clemens, the president of Paramount Television Studios, will also take on the role of president of Paramount+ original scripted series, where she will report to Nevins; for her role at Paramount Television Studios, she will continue reporting to Gianopulos. “Our content leaders know their genres better than anyone and have been integral to building a strong slate for Paramount+ and growing its audience,” Ryan said in a statement about the executive changes. “Our new structure will enable us to tap into their collective expertise even more effectively, further cementing Paramount+ as a true super service that delivers the content audiences love, all in one place.” Changes for the streamer The move comes nearly a month after the departure of top programming executive Julie McNamara, who had been overseeing a franchise-heavy original programming strategy for the months-old streamer that aims to compete with all-purpose services like Netflix and HBO Max. At the time, Ryan said in a staff memo that more executive changes were coming as part of a broader evaluation of the streamer’s content structure. Paramount+ has had something of a quiet start on the market since the service, which had previously been known to some consumers as CBS All Access, executed a considerable rebrand and a programming expansion in March of this year. While the company has not broken out Paramount+ subscriptions specifically, executives said in May that the new service was the primary driver of an additional 6 million new streaming subscribers in the quarter, growing the company’s overall total straming subscribers to 36 million by the end of the first quarter of 2021. The company has big plans to ramp up its content slate on the service in an effort to win over more consumers, and most of those plans rely on tapping into the franchises and IP already within the ViacomCBS portfolio. By the end of 2022, ViacomCBS is aiming to release an average of one original movie released per week in 2022, along with a plan to release one original unscripted series every month. How ViacomCBS’ New Streaming Head is Taking Lessons from Pluto TV to Transform Paramount+