Brian Robbins, the head of ViacomCBS Inc.’s Nickelodeon kids TV empire, is expected to take over as chairman and chief executive of the company’s Paramount Pictures movie studio, according to people familiar with the matter. Robbins will succeed Jim Gianopulos, 70, who has run the studio since 2017. Gianopulos is expected to stay on to assist with the leadership transition, the people said. ViacomCBS Chair Shari Redstone was a key driver pushing for the change in roles. An announcement could come as soon as next week, people briefed on the matter said.
ViacomCBS has restructured its international reporting structure, bringing its global business under the control of a trio of U.S. execs. Chris McCarthy (l), Brian Robbins (c) and George Cheeks (r) have all been promoted as part of the move. Cheeks, who is president-CEO, CBS Entertainment Group, will expand his role to include responsibility for a global content strategy across ViacomCBS’ free-to-air networks around the world. These include Channel 5 in the U.K., Telefe in Argentina and Network Ten in Australia. McCarthy and Robbins have added global oversight for their brand groups — MTV Entertainment Group and Nickelodeon. There are no specifics but word is that, like with Cheeks, the oversight is content-related and includes programming and marketing.
A year and a half after AwesomenessTV funder Brian Robbins joined Viacom to oversee Paramount Players, he is being named president of the company’s Nickelodeon Group. He succeeds Cyma Zarghami who stepped down in June after more than 30 years with the network. Robbins will report directly to Bob Bakish,Viacom president-CEO.
Brian Robbins, the co-founder and chief executive of teen-focused online video network AwesomenessTV, is leaving the company after five years, he told staff Wednesday. Robbins did not cite a reason for his exit.
