Paramount Global for sale latest - C21 Media: NBCU alum Kevin MacLellan named as head of int’l, global distribution at New Paramount

Story from C21 Media:

New Paramount’s distribution and international operation will be led by former NBCUniversal (NBCU) executive Kevin MacLellan.

The veteran executive, who was formerly the chairman of international and global distribution at NBCU, has been tapped as president of international and global content distribution at the merged Skydance/Paramount entity, which is set to officially become operational today.

The appointment gives MacLennan oversight of a portfolio spanning Paramount’s powerhouse distribution arm (currently known as Paramount Global Content Distribution) and international assets such 5 in the UK and Network 10 in Australia.

The news comes after it emerged last week that Paramount Global’s chief content licensing officer, Dan Cohen, who had been with the company for eight years after a 20-year stint with Disney, was leaving ahead of the Paramount-Skydance merger.

MacLennan served as NBCU’s president of international television, based in London, from 2011 to 2013 before being elevated to chairman of global distribution and international in a hybrid position split between London and LA. He served in the latter role for seven years before leaving NBCU in 2020.

His job at NBCU included overseeing all of the media company’s TV operations and digital business outside the US, including around 35 sales and distribution outposts, eight production companies and more than 50 pay TV networks.

He has previously worked with incoming New Paramount president Jeff Shell, who he replaced as NBCU’s head of international in 2013 when Shell was promoted to a different role within the company.

In the time since leaving NBCU, MacLellan launched a real estate development fund focused on constructing and managing residential multi-family real estate properties in Durham, North Carolina.

On his LinkedIn page, he describes the launch of the fund as a “career break” that allowed him to further develop his interest in real estate investment “while I waited out my non-compete period after departing NBCU.”