In a surprise move this morning, ViacomCBS chief executive Bob Bakish revealed in a memo to staff that the company would be rebranding this week as Paramount.
The announcement came as the company revealed its Q4 2021 financial and ahead of an investor day for ViacomCBS.
The move to Paramount acknowledges the importance of streaming to the media company’s business model. Key amongst the data for the financial results was the customer growth at Paramount+.
There has been no statement from 10 ViacomCBS in Australia, but it seems likely that the broadcaster will become known at 10 Paramount. A 10 spokesperson explained to Mediaweek that it is great to see all the company’s brands united under one brand, but within Australia individual brands won’t change initially.
There has been a number of name changes across the past two decades for the FTA, on-demand and streaming business. Network Ten became 10 in recent years, before the business was acquired by what was then CBS. After the CBS and Viacom merger it became ViacomCBS. Next stop along the rebrand path will be Paramount ANZ.
The memo from Bakish and ViacomCBS and non-executive chair Shari Redstone said in part:
It has been one year since the spectacular launch of Paramount+ and two years since the successful merger of Viacom and CBS. In that time, we have shown the world what we knew from the start: that together, aligned around a shared vision and shared strategy, we create a whole that is far greater than the sum of its parts.
This is an exciting moment in the history of our company. Our streaming business is growing fast—and going global. Our broad and varied portfolio of content is captivating audiences around the world. Our brands are firing on all cylinders. And as results from the fourth quarter and the whole of last year make clear, our momentum is accelerating. The size of the opportunity we see ahead is matched only by our determination to seize it.
An iconic global company deserves an iconic global name. One that reflects the power of our content; one that reflects our role as stewards of a rich heritage and as leaders in the future of entertainment.
With this in mind, as we’re announcing today at our investor event, ViacomCBS is becoming Paramount Global, or, more simply, Paramount.
As Paramount, our name will reflect who we are, what we aspire to be, and all that we stand for. It will help advance our strategy of harnessing all our strength and breadth in building the businesses of tomorrow. And it will capture the collective power of our global assets, from our amazing brands—CBS, Showtime, MTV, Comedy Central, BET, Nickelodeon, Smithsonian, Paramount Pictures, Paramount+, Pluto TV and more— to our global reach and our diverse audiences. All of which adds up to Paramount being the pre-eminent home to, and producers of, the world’s greatest content.
New Paramount programming
There have been a number of programming changes today that will impact viewers in Australia.
One major new franchise is the reality series The Challenge: War of the Worlds which Reuters has reported launches on four continents in June. ViacomCBS aims to test a key component of its streaming strategy – using localised content on broadcast TV to attract subscribers to its Paramount+ streaming service, an executive with the entertainment conglomerate told Reuters.
The media giant is launching four versions of the show and airing them on its broadcast TV networks in the United States, Australia, the United Kingdom and Argentina, and streaming episodes on Paramount+ globally the following day.
See also: 10 commissions NCIS: Sydney to bolster Australian slate