As Skydance and Paramount Global prepare for their merger to be completed Thursday, more senior Paramount executives are leaving.Liza Burnett Fefferman is stepping down as EVP and Head of Communications for Showtime/MTV Entertainment Studios and Paramount Media Networks. She just notified the staff of her pending departure.It comes as the two top executives with which Fefferman worked closely — Chris McCarthy, Paramount Global Co-CEO and President of Showtime/MTV Entertainment, and Nina L. Diaz, President of Content and Chief Creative Officer for Showtime/MTV Entertainment Studios — are also leaving upon the merger closing.Fefferman has worked for McCarthy since first joining then-Viacom in 2016 and, along with Diaz, was most recently a member of his five-person senior leadership team. After the merger, McCarthy’s portfolio is being split between executives George Cheeks, Dana Goldberg and Cindy Holland.In her role as Head of Communications for Showtime/MTVE Studios and Paramount Media Nets, Fefferman oversaw corporate, strategy, media relations, crisis, internal, social impact, programming, consumer insights and awards for the portfolio, which includes the studios arm as well as MTV, Comedy Central, Paramount Network, Smithsonian Channel, CMT, Pop TV, TV Land and Logo. She also was the Co-Head of MTV Documentary Films, which she founded. During her tenure, the labels under her purview have earned 193 Emmy nominations and 50 wins as well as seven Oscar nominations and two Peabody Awards.“From the seismic shifts in media to a global pandemic to personal triumphs and heartbreaking losses, we navigated the highs and lows together, having each other’s backs every step of the way,” she wrote in her farewell message.A seasoned communications executive who founded DKC/Film and worked for Radius, Samuel Goldwyn Films and The Weinstein Co., Fefferman joined Paramount Global predecessor Viacom in May 2016 to lead communications for VH1 and Logo. She added MTV less than a year later, followed by CMT in October 2018, Comedy Central, Paramount Network, Smithsonian Channel, TV Land, Pop and MTV Entertainment Studios in January 2020, and Showtime in February 2023.
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