Senior leadership team at Skydance/Paramount takes shape ahead of merger

The leadership team for the media giant created by the merger between Skydance and Paramount is taking shape.

David Ellison

The top roles are set to be confirmed in an official announcement later today ahead of the completion of the merger set for August 7.

According to US reports, Andy Gordon, who leads the LA office of Skydance-backers RedBird Capital Partners, will take the role of chief operating officer and chief strategic officer.

It comes after Gordon helped source the firm’s investments in Skydance with the Ellison family, Talent Systems and Hidden Pigeon.

The announcement later this morning is also set to confirm former NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell, chair of RedBird Sports & Media, as president, with Skydance founder David Ellison taking on the CEO role.

The industry is eagerly awaiting how Paramount Global’s commissioning priorities may change post-merger, with former Netflix and Sister exec Cindy Holland set to be named head of direct-to-consumer, giving her oversight of programming for streamers Paramount+ and Pluto.

Also joining will be Kevin MacLellan, who served as international chair of NBCUniversal until 2020. According to Variety, MacLellan will take on a similar role at the new entity, having worked with Shell for over a decade at NBCUniversal.

Josh Greenstein, who recently left his role as president at Sony Pictures’ Motion Group, is also reportedly set to be taking on an as-yet-unknown senior executive role at the new outfit.

It comes after Skydance Media’s takeover of Paramount Global was approved in late July by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) following a months-long review, marking the last major hurdle in the finalising of the US$8bn deal.

Among those confirmed to be exiting Paramount Global ahead of the completion of the deal include chief content licensing officer Dan Cohen and co-CEO Chris McCarthy. Fellow co-CEO Brian Robbins is also expected to leave, but the third co-CEO, George Cheeks, is expected to remain with the company, according to reports.

Cheeks will continue to oversee CBS and would add McCarthy’s cable network portfolio to his remit, according to Deadline.

Cheeks currently has CBS Entertainment, CBS News and Stations, CBS Sports under his oversight, as well as CBS Studios and Paramount’s syndication business CBS Media Ventures.

The FCC review has dragged on for months, with many believing its approval of the deal hinged on Paramount’s CBS News settling a Trump lawsuit alleging that CBS News had deceptively edited a 60 Minutes interview with former presidential candidate Kamala Harris in the lead-up to last year’s US election. Last month, Paramount agreed to a US$16m settlement with Trump.