The drumbeat of departures from Paramount Global is continuing, with high-level streaming exec Jeff Shultz heading for the exits.Shultz, whose most recent title was Chief Strategy Officer and Chief Business Development Officer, Streaming, was one of the initial architects of Pluto TV‘s success. Pluto, founded in 2014 as a trailblazer in free, ad-supported television (FAST), was acquired by Viacom for $340 million in 2019. It went on to become a billion-dollar revenue generator after the merger of Viacom and CBS.Shultz, who later shepherded the rebrand/launch of Paramount+, confirmed his exit in a LinkedIn post, sharing it with what he called “mixed emotions.”Ray Hopkins, President of U.S. Networks Distribution at Paramount. Paramount, is adding Shultz’s duties to his portfolio. The realignment, with the strategy component of Shultz’s role remaining in the Streaming organization, was confirmed in an internal memo from Paramount’s Co-CEOs, George Cheeks, Chris McCarthy and Brian Robbins. “As the landscape continues to evolve and our partnerships increasingly span across both linear and streaming,” they wrote, “we firmly believe Ray is the right leader to ensure that Paramount is best positioned to continue to succeed across cable, broadcast and streaming platforms.”Shultz, who had held exec roles at CBS, became Pluto’s Chief Business Officer in 2017 and helped expand its business ahead of the Viacom acquisition.Paramount, which is reeling from ongoing declines in its linear TV business, is laying off 15% of its U.S.-based workforce, in pursuit of $500 million in cost savings. Paramount over the summer clinched a merger with Skydance Media, with that deal set to close in the first half of 2025. While Skydance has emphasized its plan to invest in Paramount’s overall streaming assets, Pluto has been overshadowed of late by Fox’s Tubi in the free, ad-supported streaming sector.“Years ago, the vision for Paramount Streaming easily could have been criticized as too daring,” Shultz wrote in the post. “Today, after announcing our first globally profitable quarter, there is no denying Paramount Streaming is a success. The year of the acquisition Pluto TV would generate about $70 million in revenue. Just three years later Pluto TV was a billion dollar business. The following year we launched Paramount+ to create the Paramount Streaming division. And another three years later the division reported Q2 revenue of $1.9 billion, over $7.5 billion annually and a quarter of Paramount Global revenue.”He continued, “Those who know me well know this was never just a job. To my many business partners, I am so grateful for the critical role you played in the growth of Pluto TV and Paramount+. I will see you soon. To my colleagues at Paramount Streaming, writing this incredible story with you has been the honor of my career. I’m sorry I won’t be with you for the next chapter, but I can’t wait to see where you go from here.”
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