Hollywood giant Paramount is replacing its previous boss with a trio of managers in the midst of merger negotiations.
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Instead of chief executive officer Bob Bakish, the three top managers of the various divisions are to lead the group, Paramount said.
"To lead and oversee the company moving forward, Paramount Global has established an Office of the CEO, consisting of three senior company executives: George Cheeks, President and CEO of CBS; Chris McCarthy, President and CEO, Showtime/MTV Entertainment Studios and Paramount Media Networks; and Brian Robbins, President and CEO of Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon," the company said in a statement.
"Cheeks, McCarthy and Robbins will work closely with Naveen Chopra, CFO, and the board of directors."
The company, which owns the traditional Hollywood studio and TV channels such as CBS, MTV and Nickelodeon, among others, has received a merger offer from the film production company Skydance.
However, according to media reports, there is a dispute between investors and the most important shareholder Shari Redstone, whose father built up the media giant.
Under Bakish, the group landed cinema hits such as Top Gun: Maverick, but also had to accept high losses for the development of the streaming service Paramount+.
According to media reports, some shareholders feel disadvantaged by the Skydance offer which has also caused tensions between Bakish and Redstone.
In the past quarter, Paramount increased its turnover by 5.8 per cent year-on-year to just under $7.7 billion.
That delivered a bottom line loss of $554 million, compared to a loss of around $1.12 billion in the same quarter of the previous year.
Australian Associated Press
