Paramount Global, Owner Of MTV, Set To Layoff Around 800 Employees: Report

The move was announced by Paramount’s CEO Bob Bakish in an internal memo to the employees on Tuesday

Paramount Global, the American media conglomerate that owns MTV and CBS News, is planning to lay off approximately 800 employees, representing roughly 3 per cent of its total workforce. This decision comes just two days after CBS's Super Bowl LVIII became the most-watched TV program in history, as reported by The Guardian.

The move was announced by Paramount’s CEO Bob Bakish in an internal memo to the employees on Tuesday.

The announcement followed shortly after CBS disclosed that its broadcast of the annual league championship between the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers averaged 123.4 million viewers across all platforms on Sunday.

In the internal memo sourced by The Guardian, Bakish expressed gratitude to those with whom the company will be parting ways. He stated, "Your talents have helped us advance our mission of unleashing the power of content around the world. We are a better company because of you.”

“While I realise these changes are in no way easy…I am confident this is the right decision for our future. These adjustments will help enable us to build on our momentum and execute our strategic vision for the year ahead – and I firmly believe we have much to be excited about,” he added. 

According to a report by ABC7 Chicago, Paramount Global has opted to lay off its employees in an effort to reduce costs and boost the revenue of the company.

In addition to the Paramount Pictures movie studio, Paramount Global owns several TV networks such as CBS News, MTV, Comedy Central, Nickelodeon, and Britain's Channel 5, as well as the Paramount+ and Pluto streaming platforms.

At the end of 2022, Paramount Global had approximately 24,500 full-time and part-time employees working across 37 nations, along with around 5,800 project-based employees on its payroll.