Paramount Global‘s advertising group conducted a round of layoffs Tuesday, which are part of the media conglomerate’s efforts to slash $500 million in annual costs, Variety has confirmed.
Paramount Advertising is the centralized team that manages domestic multiplatform ad sales across CBS, BET, Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon, Paramount+, Pluto TV and other properties.
The number of employees affected by the cuts at Paramount Advertising couldn’t be learned. Paramount last month announced that it will lay off 15% of its U.S. workforce, eliminating 2,000 jobs, ahead of its merger with Skydance Media.
The layoffs were announced in a memo to staff by Paramount Advertising president John Halley. “Today is going to be a difficult day as this process will affect our org and we will be parting ways with talented and valued teammates and friends,” Halley said in the memo. “I want to acknowledge how unsettling this may feel, as this is not the first time our org has shouldered impacts. None of this is easy and no decision was made lightly.”
Halley, previously COO of advertising revenue for Paramount, took over the top ad job at Paramount after the exit of Jo Ann Ross, the TV industry’s first woman ad-sales chief, earlier this year.
On Paramount’s second quarter 2024 earnings call, Chris McCarthy, one of the company’s current three co-CEOs who heads Showtime/MTV Entertainment Studios and Paramount Media Networks, the company expects to complete the layoffs by the end of 2024.
McCarthy noted that the $500 million in targeted cost reductions is included in the $2 billion of “cost efficiencies” identified by Skydance and its partner, RedBird Capital Partners. The layoffs are primarily targeted in two areas: “redundant functions” within marketing and communications and “streamlining our corporate structure” by reducing headcount in finance, legal, technology and other support functions, according to McCarthy.
“As you can imagine, these are difficult decisions to make. We have incredibly talented people at Paramount, and these actions are not a reflection of their contributions. Rather, they are necessary to transform our organization for the future,” McCarthy said on the call.
The cuts in Paramount’s ad division were first reported by Deadline.
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