ViacomCBS restructures for streaming
October 20, 2020
Following similar restructuring towards streaming elsewhere, ViacomCBS named Pluto TV head Tom Ryan as president and CEO of ViacomCBS Streaming.
Kelly Day, now COO, ViacomCBS Networks International, was named to the additional role of president of Streaming, ViacomCBS Networks International. Pierluigi Gazzolo will step down from his position as president, streaming and studios at VCNI to pursue other interests, the company said.
Marc DeBevoice, who had been chief digital officer for ViacomCBS and CEO of ViacomCBS Digital will be leaving the company as it rebrands CBS All Access into Paramount Plus, described as the company’s “super” streaming service.
Before being merged with Viacom, CBS was an early entrant into the streaming business with CBS All Access and Showtime OTT. But those services remained rather small in the battle against Netflix, Amazon and Hulu. More recently The Walt Disney Co., with Disney Plus, Comcast’s NBCUniversal with Peacock and even AT&T with HBO Max have made big play in the streaming space and ViacomCBS now needs to catch up.
Ryan will be overseeing the transformation of CBS All Access into Paramount Plus, a subscription service, under the new structure. He will also continue to lead Pluto TV as a free, add supported service.
Ryan co-founded Pluto TV in 2014.