Viacom & CBS Continue to Shape Post-Merger Executive Leadership

Chris McCarthy and David Nevins are both adding new channels to their remit under the proposed ViacomCBS merger structure, while Kent Alterman and Sarah Levy exit the company.

McCarthy, currently president of MTV, VH1, CMT and Logo, will serve as president of entertainment and youth brands for ViacomCBS Domestic Media Networks, adding the Comedy Central, Paramount Network, Smithsonian Channel and TV Land brands and their respective content studios to his current portfolio.

Nevins, chief creative officer at CBS and chairman and CEO of Showtime Networks, will oversee CBS Television Studios, the CBS Television Network’s entertainment division, the Showtime Networks and Pop, as well as the programming of CBS All Access. He will also have oversight of CBS’s interest in The CW. Nevins will oversee BET, which will continue to be led by Scott Mills as president.

Gianopulos will oversee filmed entertainment, continuing as chairman and CEO of Paramount Pictures, a role that includes oversight of Paramount Animation, Paramount Features, Paramount Players and Paramount TV.

Carolyn Kroll Reidy will lead the company’s publishing assets, continuing in her role as president and CEO of Simon & Schuster.

Brian Robbins, president of Nickelodeon, will oversee the company’s kids’ and young adult-focused offerings as president of kids and family entertainment for ViacomCBS Domestic Media Networks. In addition to Nickelodeon, Nick at Nite, Nick Jr., TeenNick, Nicktoons and Nickelodeon Studios, he will now oversee Awesomeness, which he co-founded and was acquired by Viacom in 2018.

Joe Ianniello, as previously announced, will serve as chairman and CEO of CBS, overseeing CBS-branded assets such as the CBS Television Network (including CBS Entertainment, CBS News and CBS Sports), CBS Television Studios, CBS Interactive (including CBS All Access) and CBS Television Stations.

ViacomCBS will form a new content council, comprising the content leaders across the company and chaired by Nevins.

“ViacomCBS will be one of the largest premium content creators in the world, with the capacity to produce content for both our own platforms and for others,” said Bob Bakish, president and CEO of Viacom, who will serve as president and CEO of ViacomCBS upon close. “This talented team of content leaders will work together to ensure we realize the full power of our brands, our deep relationships with the creative community and our intellectual property to drive our growth as a combined company.”

In the digital arena, Marc DeBevoise, president and COO of CBS Interactive, will serve as chief digital officer of ViacomCBS and president and CEO of CBS Interactive. Kelly Day, president of Viacom Digital Studios, will continue to lead the digital content strategy and initiative to create and expand original programming and branded content across leading and emerging social platforms. Phil Wiser, chief technology officer at CBS, will serve as chief technology officer for the combined company, reporting to DeBevoise. Tom Ryan, CEO and co-founder of Pluto TV, will continue to lead Pluto TV.

“Our content scale will support our streaming strategy, which will build on the rapidly scaling advertising and subscription-based products we already have in the market,” Bakish said. “The executives we announced today bring complementary and deep experience in both subscription and ad-supported streaming businesses and will work together to create a differentiated streaming ecosystem in the market.”