Broader restructuring at Paramount causes exit of top CBS executives

The top two entertainment executives at CBS are leaving due to a broader restructuring at the network and its parent firm, Paramount Global.

Kelly Kahl, the head of entertainment at CBS, and Thom Sherman, his top lieutenant, will leave their posts at the end of 2022, the firm announced.

An executive vice president at CBS Entertainment, Amy Reisenbach, will take up Kahl’s position. Reisenbach is a CBS veteran of almost 20 years and most recently had oversight of all current daytime and prime-time programming on the network.

On an earnings call in November 2022, Paramount CEO Bob Bakish and CFO Naveen Chopra suggested that substantial cost cuts were incoming. CFO Chopra told investors that he was not going to put any specific numbers on cost savings, but concluded that they will be meaningful and sizable.

The firm reported a drop in third-quarter profit, as spending on marketing, content, and international expansion increased in its streaming video unit.

The decision to oust Kahl and Sherman caught many CBS executives by surprise, sources at the network said. With worldwide broadcast television viewing in decline, CBS has unfailingly performed better than its peers in the ratings and is the most-watched prime-time network.