Skydance’s acquisition of Paramount is expected to close during the first half of 2025. Once that step has been completed, the new company is likely to be led by experienced industry executive Jeff Shell, most recently the CEO of NBCUniversal from 2029 to 2023.
While Shell and Skydance CEO David Ellison are barred from making public statements on their plans for managing ParamountGlobal’s many assets across film, television, and streaming, a look at Shell’s tenure as a CEO of NBCUniversal gives some indication as to how he might approach the challenges and opportunities at Paramount.
CNBC spoke with a dozen of Shell’s former colleagues at NBCUniversal to gain insights into his leadership and decision-making. The sources described Shell as a leader who proposed many “big ideas” that never materialized. However, starting at Paramount with a mandate for change as a result of the company’s well-documented financial struggles, Shell may be better able to pull off bold changes.
One idea that Shell floated at NBC was to cut costs by giving up national programming in the 10 o’clock hour, giving that slot over to NBC’s local affiliates for local programs. Shell never did pull the trigger on that idea, because of the risk of alienating key contributors such as Dick Wolf, the creator of the wildly popular detective series “Law & Order”, which played on NBC in the 10 o’clock hour.
There was also a concern that a step back from 10 o’clock would negatively impact ratings for “The Tonight Show” with Jimmy Fallon, which played at 11:30 after the local news. The same dynamic exists at Paramount, which airs the popular police drama “Blue Bloods” at 10 o’clock and follows at 11:30 with “The Late Show” starring Stephen Colbert. But Shell may still consider pursuing this idea due to cable’s continued decline in viewership.
Another idea Shell is said to have considered while at NBCUniversal was to merge its steaming platform Peacock with a larger streamer. He argued that this could be an effective way to obtain scale while controlling costs. While this did not materialize at NBC, it is a distinct possibility that Shell would pursue this at Paramount. After years of losses, it will be a top priority for Shell to turn Paramount+ into a valuable asset and money maker for the company.