• by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, May 1, 2024

A nine-minute financial earnings call... no questions...  and stunned analysts. Thus the drama swirled around Paramount Global.

Earlier in the day, Paramount revealed that Bob Bakish was being let go, and the company is now creating an "Office of the CEO” around three of its most senior executives.

During the short Monday call with analysts, no insights were provided about the specific responsibilities the new “Office of the CEO” will have -- or who CFO Naveen Chopra will report to, or who will oversee Paramount's high-profile streaming business.

The call also did not clarify whether any of these changes are to be temporary or permanent.

There are also crucial negotiations soon to begin around Paramount networks' and stations' carriage deal with the biggest U.S. pay TV provider, Charter Communications. That's the core business of Paramount, holding on to a tenuous position in terms of profitability.

And of course, there are still bigger acquisition issues to nail down with Skydance Media -- or possibly with Sony Pictures Entertainment/Apollo Global Management.

While not directly affected by these eye-opening news releases, the traditional upfront TV advertising market is set to commence in the next six weeks of so. Does this make some wonder what -- if anything -- will change for the company as it enters this crucial marketplace?

How will Paramount handle the upfront conversation in light of all of this? Well, it has already taken a more private, quiet approach.

For the second year in a row, it has abandoned its big glitzy Hollywood-style upfront presentation traditionally held at Carnegie Hall. Instead, the company is again doing a private, more one-to-one media agency/advertiser meeting.

The bigger concern is still around its direct-to-consumer (D2C) business -- how it can more quickly ramp up its Paramount+ streaming platform -- not just in revenue growth -- but in narrowing more quickly its billion dollar a year losses.

TV Watch Note: As I was writing this column, a special display advertising on my smart TV, by way of DirectTV was encouraging me to buy the special Paramount+ Showtime streaming bundle for $5.99 a month.

Timing and engagement is everything these days.

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