JB Perrette, co-president and chief commercial officer of Skydance’s TV and direct-to-consumer divisions, revealed key members of his executive team, several departures and an impending opening for Pluto TV leader.
It’s the latest in a series of organizational appointments for Skydance, which was officially created this month by the Warner Bros. merger. Discovery and Paramount. Perrette, who led HBO Max’s global expansion and was part of the executive team that launched Hulu, is one of the few WBD executives to retain a senior role in Skydance after the $110 billion combination closes.
Among those leaving the new structure, Perrette revealed in an internal memo, are Dan Barnes, head of global advertising revenue for HBO Max; Michael Bishara, executive vice president and general manager of global streaming and digital networks at WBD; Jamie Cooke, senior vice president of Central Europe, Middle East, Turkey and Africa for WBD; Domenic DiMeglio, director of marketing and data for Paramount Streaming; Marco Nobili, international general manager of Paramount+; Pank Patel, head of international media networks at Paramount; and Juan Sola, head of Latin American streaming for WBD.
Another senior executive, Efrain Miron, executive vice president and head of content strategy and licensing for Paramount DTC, is leaving his current role to “explore other opportunities within the company,” Perrette wrote. (Read his full memo below.)
The memo also left a blank for the future boss of Pluto, the free streamer looking for a new leader who will help it align with subscription siblings Paramount+ and HBO Max.
Pluto is a key asset in the new streaming organization, but former channel pioneer FAST, launched in 2014, has been overtaken by competitors like Tubi and Roku Channel. Pluto’s top executives, Tom Ryan, the service’s co-founder, and Jeff Schultz both left former parent Paramount in the past two years. While Paramount made back-to-back mergers with the older iteration of Skydance and WBD, they were not replaced.
Perrette, a former longtime executive at NBCUniversal, Discovery and WBD, has a diverse portfolio in his new role at Skydance. In addition to the streaming aspects he has led at other companies, he now oversees advertising, distribution and international, both streaming and linear. He works closely with TV co-president George Cheeks, but Cheeks handles other programming areas as chief content officer.
“As you learned from David and Ynon earlier this month, my role at the company is one that deliberately bridges DTC and TV,” Perrette wrote in an internal memo, referring to CEO David Ellison and co-CEO Ynon Kreiz. “The industry and consumer behavior continue to evolve at a rapid pace, and these two companies have more crossovers and interconnections than ever. We must move each company forward aggressively, while being mindful of maximizing the strategic and financial opportunities between the two.”
Team,
As you learned from David and Ynon earlier this month, my role in the company is one that deliberately bridges DTC and TV. Industry and consumer behavior continue to evolve at a rapid pace, and these two sectors have more intersections and interconnections than ever before. We must move each business forward aggressively, while being mindful of maximizing the strategic and financial opportunities between the two, and at the same time be transparent and data-driven when there are inevitable tradeoffs that need to be decided…do them quickly and remain clear that our North Star is what is in the best interest of the Skydance business as a whole (and not individual units, countries, or other agendas).
To do this, we will have some leaders more dedicated to TV and others to DTC, and many leaders wearing both (or more) hats. Our structure will build on strong local/regional expertise and relationships, as well as global scale and capabilities…and success will require everyone to make this local and global setup a powerful network rather than a feared matrix. The focus needs to be on working together and putting points on the board to ensure we win, rather than on who put them on the board. We have a unique portfolio of DTC and TV assets that I believe can work better and more powerfully together, engaging and delighting billions of consumers around the world while also driving growth in the company’s cash flow, earnings and revenue.
The most painful part of these transitions is that we have to say goodbye to many talented leaders who have brought significant value to previous companies and, more importantly, who have been great friends, colleagues and mentors to so many. I want to thank Dan Barnes, Michael Bishara, Jamie Cooke, Domenic DiMeglio, Marco Nobili, Pank Patel and Juan Sola (gracias!) for everything they have done to get the company to where it is today. Their work has been instrumental in the success of the DTC and/or TV businesses, and I am extremely grateful for their efforts throughout their impressive tenures. Join me in wishing them all the best in their next endeavors.
Below is our new leadership team effective today. We were as thoughtful as possible, even if on a very tight deadline. Despite all our efforts, there will undoubtedly be further clarifications and improvements that will need to be made, particularly within sub-teams that will need to be more specifically realigned to this new structure. Thank you in advance for your patience and understanding, and especially for your help in this next phase to ensure we arrive at the right answer. So, Jay Askanasi (Advertising), Ray Hopkins (Distribution) and David Decker (Content Sales) previously announced to help lead this charge will be (in alphabetical order):
GLOBAL
Jeff Cusson, Executive Vice President and Head of Communications, Skydance DTC: As previously announced by Casey, Jeff will lead the communications strategy for the streaming services with a shared reporting line with me, Casey and Mel Zukerman, Skydance’s Director of Communications. The international communications teams will remain loyal to its organization, but will continue to have a dotted-line relationship with the country CEO/CEO and be part of their leadership team.
Shauna Spenley, Marketing Director, Global DTC and International TV: Shauna will expand her role to include overseeing international television marketing, in partnership with me and George Cheeks, with all international streaming and television marketing teams within her organization. This will help make operations more efficient…but local marketing teams, especially in large free trade markets, will continue to have a dotted line relationship with the country MD/CEO and be part of their leadership team. She will also have a dotted line to Rebecca Mall, CMO, Skydance. Juan Sola’s team, Domenic DiMeglio’s team, and marketing-focused resources from other groups will join Shauna’s team.
Trey Turner, COO, International: In addition to his finance responsibilities, Trey will take on the new role of COO of International, reporting to me to help drive and continue to transform the large international portfolio. Joining Trey’s team will be Pank Patel’s strategy team, Louis Goldstein, Vanessa Brookman, Lee Hobbs and Myriam Lopez-Otazu.
Josh Walker, COO, DTC: Josh will have a dual role as COO, DTC, reporting to me and supporting Casey, and CFO, DTC, reporting to Dennis Cinelli, CFO, Skydance. As COO, he is responsible for business strategy and planning, content strategy, planning, analytics and acquisitions, pricing, podcasting and project/program management. Rodrigo Mazon and most of Michael Bishara’s team will join Josh’s team.
Liz Wright, CFO, Skydance TV Segment: Liz will be the CFO of the Skydance TV segment, leading the finances of CBS and our global television networks businesses. In her new role, Liz will partner with George and I for Skydance TV and report to Dennis Cinelli.
Responsible for Pluto/AVOD: This is an important undertaking for us and deserves dedicated leadership to help us see it through day in and day out. We will be looking for a strong Pluto/AVOD leader with internal and external candidates, and I will share more as we move forward in this process. This new role will be filled by Olivier Jollet, Will Gurman and Kevin Kroll, and, in the interim, this team will report to Josh and myself.
REGIONAL/LOCAL
Internationally, we will have four regional leaders who will help drive the combined television and streaming businesses and report to me.
These regional leaders and their teams will directly oversee distribution, advertising sales, network and streaming business development and television programming in their markets. and will work in partnership with the global functional teams above as well as Jay Askinasi in Advertising, Ray Hopkins in Distribution and David Berson in Sports (rest assured, the common goal is to be pragmatic about what makes sense or where there is added value… we will work together to clarify further in the coming weeks). These leaders are (in alphabetical order, and to be clear, only reporting changes are listed under regional leaders and not their full teams):
Andrew Georgiou, interim president and managing director Europe and Africa, will lead Europe and Africa: Andrew will be taking on a new role outside of the company next year, but he has offered to help me manage this transition before he leaves and while we search for his replacement. Joining Andrew’s team will be: Alessandro Araimo, MD Southern Europe: responsible for Italy, Spain, France, and will now add Turkey and Africa
Qaisar Rafique, Senior Vice President of Business Development: will be responsible for all distribution and business development in Europe, as well as overseeing Central and Eastern Europe (excluding Poland)
Reemah Sakaan, President 5 and MD UK&I: will assume leadership of the company’s entertainment business in the UK and Ireland, including his current role at the helm of Channel 5
Christina…
Gn entert
