Paramount’s Maria Kyriacou exits amid international commissioning cutback

Maria Kyriacou, who serves as president of broadcast and studios for Paramount international markets, is exiting her UK-based role after four years.

Maria Kyriacou

The exec is departing as parent company Paramount Global pulls back on ordering international originals and focuses its investment on its Hollywood franchises, as reported by C21 last week.

Kyriacou led Paramount’s free-to-air businesses in the UK (Channel 5), Australia (Network 10), Argentina (Telefe) and Chile (Chilevisión) as well as overseeing Paramount Television International Studios (PTIS).

Pam Kaufman, president and CEO of Paramount International Markets, global consumer products and experiences, and George Cheeks, president and CEO, CBS and chief content officer, news and sports, Paramount+, revealed the news to staff on Friday.

Kyriacou’s last day in the office was January 26 but she will continue to work with the company until the end of March.

With Kyriacou’s departure, CBS Studios president David Stapf will oversee PTIS for the time being, while Channel 5, Network 10, Chilevisión and Telefe will continue to be overseen by their local leadership teams. Kaufman and Cheeks said additional updates will be shared as quickly as possible.

Paramount Global is expected to enact a round of lay-offs in February, with reports suggesting between 800 and 1,000 positions will be eliminated across the breadth of the business. At the same time, David Ellison’s Skydance has made a preliminary offer to acquire Shari Redstone-owned National Amusements, parent company of Paramount Global.

During Kyriacou’s tenure, PTIS produced local originals including Uno Para Morir (Death’s Roulette), No Escape, The Burning Girls and Anderson Spider Silva. She joined in early 2020 as president of

UK, Northern and Eastern Europe and later added markets including Australia, Canada and Israel to her role. Kyriacou was formerly the president of international at ITV Studios.

“We are sharpening our international content strategy to focus more heavily on our Hollywood franchises, films and series, which have mass global appeal, are in high demand with our partners, and perform strongest with audiences worldwide,” said Kaufman and Cheeks in their memo to staff.

“As we focus on maximising our content investment, we will produce fewer international originals, apart from our leading free-to-air networks in the UK, Australia, Argentina and Chile, which will continue to have a strong pipeline of local content.”