Paramount to Lay Off Around 3% of Its Workforce Amid Plans to Trim Costs

Paramount Global has announced a plan to lay off around 800 employees, which is around 3% of its workforce. The layoffs come as the entertainment company seeks to trim costs and return to a positive financial trajectory this year.

The layoffs target employees based in the United States. Its CEO, Bob Bakish, also said that the layoffs would also impact some employees based outside the US.

Paramount Trims Employees Across All Divisions

The affected employees were informed earlier this week, with global employees being alerted over time depending on the local legal obligations in the countries they reside.

JUST IN - Several CBS News reporters were caught up in layoffs at Paramount Global that claimed 800 jobs, including Catherine Herridge, NY Post reports

- Insider Paper (@TheInsiderPaper) February 13, 2024

Bakish sent out a memo on the development but failed to specify the number of affected employees. The layoffs will affect all divisions at the company including CBS, Paramount Pictures, Pluto TV, Showtime, Paramount+, and cable networks.

In the internal memo, Bakish also told employees that the layoffs come as the company works towards returning to earnings growth. Improving the company's financial outlook will be a top priority in 2024.

This will require us to continue to grow revenue while reducing costs. And unfortunately, part of streamlining costs means that today, we will begin the difficult process of saying goodbye to some of our very valued colleagues across Paramount," the memo read.

The entertainment industry has been dealing with a shifting landscape where streaming is quickly gaining popularity. The streaming industry is currently dominating traditional television. Moreover, the Hollywood strikes that happened last year also affected many companies.

The challenges facing media companies come amid uncertainties in the economic environment. The advertising market has also seen a slight recession, which has affected the financial position of entertainment companies relying on these advertisements.

In the memo, Bakish also said that the changes will enable Paramount to build momentum and execute its strategic vision in the coming year. As such, these layoffs played a crucial role in achieving this mission.

Paramount Reaps Benefits from Super Bowl

The layoffs come amid massive benefits for CBS during the Super Bowl game. The Sunday game ranked as the most-watched program on US television. Earlier this week, CBS published an after-report from the game saying that it amassed 123.4 million average viewers, making it the most-watched Super Bowl game after breaking last year's record.

CBS Sports' presentation of Super Bowl LVIII is the most-watched telecast in history with a total audience delivery of 123.4 million average viewers across platforms.

Link to Release: https://t.co/DHc9XPBwSn pic.twitter.com/GR3w2hbBwn

- CBS Sports PR (@CBSSportsGang) February 13, 2024

CBS had the largest viewership during the game having amassed 120 million viewers. The previous record for the company was during the 2016 Super Bowl game where CBS obtained 112.34 million viewers in the match between Denver Broncos and Carolina Panthers.

The increased viewership in the game also saw the National Football League (NFL) reap big from advertisements. The NFL sold 30-second advertisement slots for $7 million, which attracted much interest.

The increased viewership during the Super Bowl game comes amid a change in the way viewers are counted to include out-of-home viewers. This change has helped identify viewers that were previously excluded in the past statistics.

The Sunday Super Bowl game was the second of 58 Super Bowls to go into overtime. The previous Super Bowl that went into overtime happened in 2017.

Another factor that drove high viewership numbers for the Super Bowl was the appearance of Taylor Swift, who is dating Kansas City Chiefs Travis Kelce. Swift's relationship has increased buzz around the NFL, explaining why the league had one of its most successful seasons.

The Taylor Swift effect was real for this year's recording-breaking Super Bowl:

Female viewership ages 12-17 up +11%
Female viewership ages 18-24 up +24%

Women also represented 47.5% of the total audience for this year's Super Bowl - an all-time high.

(h/t @paulsen_smw) pic.twitter.com/koBzRiao5n

- Joe Pompliano (@JoePompliano) February 14, 2024

Swift's presence is also attracting young and female audiences. During the Sunday game, studio cameras kept switching to her to record her reactions to the match. With new fans and record-breaking numbers, the NFL is picking interest from advertisers.

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