ViacomCBS today said that effective immediately Jim Gianopulos, CEO of Paramount Pictures, will turn over leadership of Paramount to Brian Robbins, who has been appointed President and CEO of the studio in addition to maintaining his current responsibilities leading Nickelodeon.
Gianopulos will serve in an advisory role at Paramount through the end of the year to help ensure a smooth transition.
In addition, Paramount Television Studios (PTVS) will now become part of the premium network group under the leadership of David Nevins, CEO of Showtime Networks, bringing together both those roles. Nicole Clemens will continue to lead PTVS in her capacity as president of PTVS, reporting directly to Nevins.
Streaming video is paramount
Robbins will assume oversight of films produced for the streaming video service Paramount+ as well as continue to be responsible for kids and family content globally for the streaming service.
Nevins and Clemens will also continue to serve in their current Paramount+ roles of chief content officer of Scripted Originals, and president of Original Scripted Series, respectively.
“Paramount is one of ViacomCBS’s crown jewels,” said ViacomCBS CEO Bob Bakish in a statement. “With Brian drawing on his extensive experiences across animation and live action, and David overseeing Paramount Television Studios, we will build on Paramount’s incredible legacy and chart a new path for the studio.”
Paramount has been putting more emphasis on streaming media this year. It launched Paramount+ in the United States in March as an expanded and rebranded version of the former CBS All Access streaming service.
In June Paramount+ began offering an ad-supported tier for $4.99 per month or $49.99 per year.
RELATED: ViacomCBS streaming revenue approaches $1B in Q2
For its Q2 2021 quarter, ViacomCBS reported that its streaming subscription revenue grew 82% year over year, and it added 6.5 million global streaming subscribers (led by Paramount+) to reach more than 42 million total subs by the end of the quarter.