Paramount Television Studios is shutting down in the wake of massive cost-cutting layoffs at Paramount Global. Paramount Television Studios was founded in March 2013 as a rebranding of Paramount Television, which itself had been rebranded from CBS Paramount Television following the split between CBS and Viacom in 2005. Over the course of its 11-year run, Paramount Television Studios produced series like Jack Ryan, Reacher, The Offer, and the recent Paramount+ hit Knuckles.
According to Deadline, Paramount Television Studios is being shut down due to the layoffs happening at Paramount Global, which are said to impact 15% of the company. Variety previously reported that Paramount Global was looking to cut costs by $500 million before the end of 2024. The team at Paramount Television Studios was previously cut in February due to cost, and now, just six months later, the TV arm of the entertainment conglomerate has been dealt a killing blow. All current series and development projects made under the Paramount Television Studios umbrella will be moved to CBS Studios. That includes the studio’s wildly successful Reacher, which is set to return for Season 3 on Prime Video.
Nicole Clemens, President of Paramount Television Studios, released a statement to the staff:
As you’re all aware, Paramount Global has made the difficult decision to close Paramount Television Studios as part of the company’s broader restructuring plans. This has been a challenging and transformative time for the entire industry, and sadly, our studio is not immune.
Over the past 11 years, PTVS has weathered seemingly insurmountable obstacles through a combination of strength, determination, and unwavering commitment. We met these challenges with incredible resilience, creativity, and passion for what we do, and I could not be prouder of our team. We’ve also had the privilege to collaborate with some of the most brilliant creative talent in the industry to help tell incredible stories seen around the world, entertaining and shaping culture.
Although Paramount Television Studios is ending, our ethos will live on in shows that will continue to be enjoyed by global audiences for years to come. We’ve cemented our legacy by shepherding some of the most influential, award-winning, and critically acclaimed shows in the streaming era with series like “13 Reasons Why,” “The Offer,” “Defending Jacob,” “The Alienist,” “The Haunting of Hill House,” “Station Eleven,” “Time Bandits,” and many more. We have broken streaming platform records with “Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan,” “Reacher,” and “The Spiderwick Chronicles.” Our upcoming shows, “Cross,” “Before,” and “Murderbot,” are sure to join the ranks of those hits. This has been the most formative chapter in my career, and that is mainly due to the remarkable colleagues I have had the honor to lead and learn from on a daily basis. Thank you for supporting me, inspiring me, and laughing with me for the last six years — I wouldn’t have wanted to be in the trenches with anyone else.
I want to thank George Cheeks for his leadership and support through it all. There will undoubtedly be some tears as we move on, but this business is a marathon, and I am certain that we will cross paths, if not work together, again.
“Often when you think you’re at the end of something, you’re at the beginning of something else.” – Fred Rogers
With heartfelt gratitude,
Nicole
The Human Cost of Saving Money
Part of the reason cited for Paramount Television Studios being shuttered is Paramount Global’s pending merger with Skydance. Skydance Television and Paramount Television Studios have collaborated in the past on series like Jack Ryan, so there seems to be an overlap that benefits from consolidation. A similar situation happened when Disney purchased 20th Century Fox and then shut down Blue Sky Animation Studio as the company already had Walt Disney Animation and Pixar Animation. In both cases, this decision made to save money has a very human cost, and many people will now be out of work.
This is always the problem that arises from corporate consolidations. Fewer studios and production companies mean fewer jobs, meaning more people will struggle to find work. $500 million cuts have to come from somewhere, and in this case, it is coming at the cost of the various people who made these studios profitable in the first place. Even though Paramount Television Studios had only been around for a little over a decade, it had developed a history all its own, and people who relied on it for work have been reduced to numbers on a balance sheet.
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In his memo to staff, George Cheeks, Co-CEO of Paramount Global and President & CEO of CBS, said, “In addition to PTVS, there are members of CBS teams who will be leaving the company. These are valued colleagues we admire and respect, whose talents contributed to the leadership position we enjoy today. I want to express my deepest gratitude for their contributions, hard work, and dedication.” This certainly clashes with the decision to let go of these hard-working individuals. These words are likely to be cold comfort to the many employees who lost their jobs today.