ViacomCBS Inc. said it is naming chief executives of Nickelodeon and MTV Entertainment Group as it readies a major international push for its flagship video-streaming service.
Brian Robbins, who runs the Nickelodeon cable channel and has oversight of the company’s entertainment group for children and families, was promoted to president and CEO of that unit. Chris McCarthy, president of MTV Entertainment Group, which includes MTV, Comedy Central and the Paramount Network, similarly gained an expanded title as president and CEO of that division.
The moves give Messrs. Robbins and McCarthy additional oversight of their groups’ global content strategies for international markets as ViacomCBS prepares to expand its flagship streaming service, Paramount+, around the world. The company said on an earnings call in May that Paramount+ would be available in 45 markets by 2022.
“These changes enable a truly global approach to brand management, content acquisitions and licensing across ViacomCBS’ networks around the world,” ViacomCBS CEO Bob Bakish said in a statement Thursday.
ViacomCBS launched the Paramount+ streaming platform in March in the U.S., where it competes in a crowded domestic market with incumbents including Netflix Inc. and Amazon.com Inc.’s Prime video platform along with newer entrants such as Walt Disney Co. ’s Disney+ service.
That makes international markets particularly important for Paramount+. Most of the growth from established players, such as Netflix, comes from abroad in places such as Brazil, India and Australia.
Australia and New Zealand will be among the first major targets for Paramount+’s international expansion plans. The company said in May that it would launch the platform in those countries in August, rebranding its existing Network 10 streaming service in Australia and combining it with its flagship streaming platform there.
ViacomCBS also said Thursday that George Cheeks, the president and CEO of CBS, would expand his role to include global content strategy across ViacomCBS’s free-to-air networks around the world.
The company has been reorganizing its executive ranks to better compete with video-streaming rivals. Last week ViacomCBS appointed Tanya Giles to be its chief programming officer for streaming and gave Showtime chief David Nevins oversight of scripted originals for Paramount+.
Write to Benjamin Mullin at [email protected]
Copyright ©2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8
