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Paramount Global Writes Down Cable TV Network Value, Announces Layoffs and Merges with SkydanceMedia

By:Emma

TapTechNews August 9th news, Paramount Global has written down the value of its cable TV networks by nearly $6 billion (TapTechNews note: currently about 43.028 billion yuan), and announced on Thursday that it will lay off 15% to deal with the decline of the cable TV business.

This reduction belongs to the $500 million cost reduction plan that Paramount had planned before merging with SkydanceMedia, which will affect about 2,000 people.

However, Paramount's share price rose 5% after hours, the company's profit significantly exceeded Wall Street's expectations, and its streaming media business announced its first quarterly profit in three years.

The company's Paramount+ and PlutoTV services reported operating income of $26 million (currently about 186 million yuan) in the second quarter, compared to a loss of $424 million (currently about 3.041 billion yuan) in the same period last year.

Paramount Global officially announced the merger with David Ellison's (son of the founder of Oracle) SkydanceMedia in July, and the transaction has been unanimously approved by Paramount's global special committee.

Paramount is one of the largest media asset companies in the world, including Paramount Pictures, CBS, MTV, Channel 5 in the UK and Channel 10 in Australia. Paramount Pictures is the fifth oldest and the second oldest film studio in the United States, and it is also one of the top five American film companies, with IPs including the Mission: Impossible series and the Godfather series, etc.

Paramount Global Writes Down Cable TV Network Value, Announces Layoffs and Merges with SkydanceMedia_0

However, Paramount has struggled in its transition to streaming media and has been divided due to internal power struggles, and the former chief executive, Bob Bakish, has also been removed. The merged company will be led by David Ellison as chairman and chief executive, and Ellison's team plans to reposition Paramount to improve profitability, promote the stability and independence of creators, and invest more on faster-growing digital platforms.

Paramount Global cable TV layoffs streaming media merger

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