Paramount Global, the holding company of Paramount Studios and CBS, is in deep trouble. After rejecting a buyout/merger by Skydance Media, which would have bought out controlling shareholder Shari Redstone and merged Skydance with Paramount, the oldest surviving Hollywood Studio is facing a financial tsunami.
With its broadcast media struggling, its streaming service problematic, and $15 billion in debt needing to be refinanced, the threesome of CEOs is embarking on thousands of layoffs and has hired outside bankers to sell of certain assets.
The full story is in Deadline Hollywood, and you can read the article here.
This week Paramount fired its General Counsel Christa D’Alimonte, the third-highest-paid Paramount executive in 2023 with nearly $5.8 million in total pay. D'Alimonte certainly had a hand in the ongoing harassment of Axanar by CBS outside counsel Loeb & Loeb, which has included multiple violations of the Axanar Settlement Agreement, including filing with YouTube to take down the Axanar Universe fan film "The Icarus Factor", which is now viewable on the Axanar website.
And more layoffs are coming. Paramount has to refinance a huge amount of debt, now at very high interest rates as its bonds have been downgraded to junk status by the S&P rating agency. Paramount Global’s long-term debt was $14.6 billion as of the end of 2023.
How will this effect Star Trek? Well, high-cost shows for their streaming service that lose money are one of the reasons Paramount + has lost billions.