CBS Will Be a ‘Cornerstone’ Asset of New Paramount, Jeff Shell Teases

As David Ellison and Jeff Shell look to the future of Paramount Global, CBS is expected to be a “cornerstone” asset of the new company, the pair told reporters on Monday.

“We believe in the business and really the reach of CBS is very important to us,” Shell explained. “I think if there’s going to be a change for CBS, we’re going to probably manage it a bit more aggressively for cash flow, meaning making some harder decisions on time periods and things like that going forward, which you have to when you have a declining business. But there’s really no change in the overall vision for the asset, other than we believe in it. It’s going to be actually part of all of our plans going forward.”

Shell’s remarks about CBS come as Paramount’s current leadership team of comprised of top executives Brian Robbins, George Cheeks and Chris McCarthy recently revealed that they have hired bankers to assist with potential asset sales.

During an earlier call with investors on Monday, Shell had noted that the incoming leadership team would not rule out asset sales, though they did not cite specific assets.

“There are assets which we think are not strategic to where we’re going, that if we were to get a buyer to pay a price that we thought was compelling, we would absolutely do that,” Shell said. “I know current management is also talking about a couple of transactions that, if they get the right price, we’ll be supportive of.”

More to come…

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