Jim Gianopulos will head filmed entertainment at the merged Viacom and CBS, the company said Monday. He will continue as chairman and chief executive officer of Paramount Pictures, which includes oversight of Paramount Animation, Paramount Features, Paramount Players and Paramount TV.

Gianopulos’ appointment was just one of several personnel moves that were announced. Chris McCarthy becomes president of entertainment and youth brands at the new ViacomCBS Domestic Media Networks, which will add Comedy Central, Paramount Network, Smithsonian Channel and TV Land and their respective studios to McCarthy’s overall portfolio. That already includes MTV, VH1, CMT and Logo.

Meanwhile, Comedy Central Chief Kent Alterman and Viacom Media Networks Chief Operating Officer Sarah Levy departed the company.

David Nevins becomes chief creative officer at CBS and chairman and CEO at Showtime Networks, overseeing CBS Television Studios, CBS Television Network Entertainment, Showtime Networks, Pop, BET, CBS All Access and CBS’ interest in The CW, which is a joint venture with Warner Bros. Entertainment. Scott Mills will continue to serve as president as BET.

Brian Robbins, president of Nickelodeon, will oversee ViacomCBS’ kids and young adult-focused offerings as president, kids and family entertainment at ViacomCBS Domestic Media Networks. These include Nickelodeon, Nick at Nite, Nick Jr., TeenNick, Nicktoons, Nickelodeon Studios and Awesomeness. Robbins co-founded Awesomeness, which Viacom acquired in 2018.

As previously announced, Joe Ianniello will serve as chairman and CEO of CBS, overseeing the CBS Television Network (including CBS Entertainment, CBS News, and CBS Sports), CBS Television Studios, CBS Interactive (including CBS All Access) and the CBS Television Stations. Ianniello had been serving as interim CEO.

ViacomCBS will also form a Content Council, comprising all of the content leaders across the company and chaired by Nevins, to ensure that the company’s content leaders are working together to maximize the use of intellectual property and talent relationships across the combined company.

On the digital side, Marc DeBevoise was previously named chief digital officer of ViacomCBS and president and CEO of CBS Interactive. He will oversee the combined company’s technology and digital operations across its subscription, live and vertical ad-supported direct-to-consumer streaming services and internet properties, which includes CBS All Access, CBSN, CBS Sports HQ and ET Live. DeBevoise and his team also are responsible for Viacom Digital Studios.

Kelly Day, president of Viacom Digital Studios, and Phil Wiser, chief technology officer, CBS, both will report to DeBevoise. Tom Ryan, CEO and co-founder of Pluto TV, will continue in that role. Viacom acquired Pluto TV in early 2019 for $340 million.

The merger of Viacom and CBS is expected to be completed in December.

READ MORE: Variety

Tags: cbs cbs all access cbs interactive jim gianopulos pop showtime networks the cw viacomcbs


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