Paramount Global Initiates Major Layoffs Across TV Divisions Post-Skydance Merger

New David Ellison Regime Begins Streamlining with Deep Cuts to CBS, Paramount+, and MTV

The anticipated restructuring of Paramount Global has officially begun, marked by a significant wave of layoffs impacting executive and staff roles across its core television divisions. This move represents the first major organizational overhaul since the company finalized its merger with Skydance Media and transitioned leadership to the David Ellison regime in early 2025.

The cuts are aimed at streamlining operations, eliminating redundancies created by the merger, and refocusing the company’s content strategy toward profitability in the highly competitive streaming landscape. Divisions spanning both linear television and streaming content development have been affected, signaling a decisive shift in priorities for the newly consolidated media giant.

The Scope of the Restructuring: Where the Cuts Landed

The layoffs have been widespread, targeting legacy structures within the company that often overlap between the traditional broadcast model and the newer streaming ecosystem. The most significant impacts were felt in the following areas:

• CBS Entertainment: The core broadcast division saw reductions, particularly in executive roles related to development and programming, reflecting the ongoing strategic shift away from reliance on legacy linear television structures.
• Paramount+: Despite being the company’s flagship streaming service, the platform’s content and operational teams were not immune, as the new leadership seeks to optimize spending and focus content investment on high-performing genres.
• MTV Entertainment Studios: This division, which oversees content for MTV, VH1, Comedy Central, and other cable networks, experienced substantial cuts, underscoring the industry-wide contraction of cable network budgets.
• Other TV Production Units: Various smaller, specialized production and development teams across the Paramount portfolio were also integrated or dissolved, leading to further staff reductions.

Industry analysts view these cuts as necessary but painful steps toward achieving the $1.5 billion in cost synergies that were projected as part of the Skydance merger agreement. The focus is clearly on creating a leaner, more agile organization capable of competing with giants like Netflix and Disney.

Strategic Rationale: The Ellison Era Begins

The transition to the David Ellison-led management team was predicated on the need for aggressive change. The previous structure, inherited from the merger of CBS and Viacom, was often criticized for being bloated and inefficient, maintaining separate teams for similar functions across different brands.

Ellison’s mandate is clear: prioritize the core intellectual property (IP) that can drive global growth for Paramount+ and maximize the value of the studio’s film assets. The television cuts reflect a move to centralize content creation and reduce the number of projects in development that do not align with this strategic focus.

Key Drivers for the Layoffs:

1. Eliminating Redundancy: Merging the Skydance and Paramount operations required consolidating overlapping roles in areas like legal, human resources, and content acquisition that previously operated independently within the ViacomCBS structure.
2. Focusing Content Spend: The new regime is expected to be highly selective about which shows receive greenlights, favoring large-scale, franchise-driven content that can attract and retain global streaming subscribers, rather than maintaining a broad slate of niche linear programming.
3. Shifting Power Dynamics: The cuts disproportionately affected executives associated with the previous leadership, enabling Ellison and his team to install leaders aligned with the new vision for a unified, film-and-streaming-centric company.

“The goal is not simply to cut costs, but to build a structure that is future-proofed for the streaming economy,” stated an industry source familiar with the internal changes. “That means making difficult decisions now about roles tied to the rapidly declining linear business.”

Broader Industry Context: Media Consolidation Continues

Paramount Global’s restructuring is not an isolated event but rather the latest example of a pervasive trend across the media industry in 2025. Companies are rapidly moving past the initial phase of aggressive streaming subscriber growth and are now focused intensely on achieving profitability.

This shift necessitates painful internal changes, as seen previously at Warner Bros. Discovery and other major studios. The focus has moved from volume of content to efficiency and return on investment (ROI).

The Linear Television Challenge

The cuts at CBS and MTV Entertainment Studios highlight the accelerating decline of the traditional cable and broadcast model. As advertising revenue shifts online and cord-cutting continues, the high overhead associated with maintaining large linear programming teams becomes unsustainable. The new Paramount structure will likely see these linear networks repurposed primarily as promotional vehicles for the Paramount+ streaming service.

Impact on Content and Future Outlook

While the immediate effect is job loss and internal disruption, the long-term goal is a more focused content slate. Readers can expect to see a greater emphasis on:

• Franchise Expansion: Doubling down on proven IP like Star Trek, Yellowstone (where applicable), and established film properties that can translate into successful streaming series.
• Global Cohesion: A unified content strategy where development teams work closely to ensure shows have international appeal and can be launched simultaneously across global markets.
• Studio Integration: Closer collaboration between the film studio (Paramount Pictures) and the television divisions to maximize cross-platform opportunities.

The integration process is expected to continue throughout 2025, with further organizational changes likely as the Skydance leadership fully implements its vision.

Key Takeaways

For those tracking the media industry and the future of Paramount Global, the initial round of layoffs provides critical insights:

• Post-Merger Reality: The cuts are the direct result of the Paramount/Skydance merger and the need to achieve promised cost synergies.
• Leadership Change: This marks the first major strategic action taken under the new David Ellison management team.
• Widespread Impact: Reductions hit both legacy divisions (CBS Entertainment, MTV) and the key streaming platform (Paramount+).
• Strategic Shift: The company is aggressively moving away from expensive, fragmented linear structures toward a centralized, streaming-focused content model.
• Focus on Profitability: The primary goal is efficiency and maximizing ROI on content investment in the competitive 2025 media landscape.

Conclusion

Paramount Global’s decision to initiate deep layoffs signals a definitive end to the company’s previous operational model. Under David Ellison, the focus is now squarely on financial discipline and strategic consolidation. While painful for the employees affected, these moves are standard practice in post-merger integration and reflect the harsh economic realities facing all major media conglomerates struggling to balance the decline of linear revenue with the high costs of streaming growth. The success of this restructuring will ultimately be measured by Paramount+’s ability to achieve consistent profitability and the quality of the content slate produced by the newly streamlined organization.