Paramount Skydance is preparing to move around some streaming staffers as David Ellison’s company wraps up its long-term project of unifying the tech platforms of Paramount+ and free streamer Pluto TV.
This so-called “convergence” project has been a top priority for Paramount. Two high-level streaming employees recently said that convergence is on pace to meet the company’s stated goal of a “mid-year launch.” While Paramount is planning to keep Paramount+ and Pluto TV as separate services, the hope is that having a single tech platform will save resources and improve recommendations across each app, which could drive higher engagement.
Once convergence is complete, Paramount is planning to reassign staffers who’ve worked on it, streaming leaders told employees during a quarterly meeting on Wednesday morning.
Paramount said it will “organize our teams against thematic pillars” like monetization, content, and live & video, according to a screenshot of the presentation viewed by Business Insider.
Streaming staffers also learned that some employees “will be utilized to create select additional Solutions Teams” focused on advertising formats, user experience for the short-form video feed on Paramount+, and video playback.
A person familiar with Paramount’s streaming strategy said these changes are about “redeploying” product employees after convergence is finished. They said most streaming staff won’t be affected by these changes and that no associated layoffs were planned.
Boosting tech beyond convergence
Since Ellison became Paramount’s CEO in August, the company has prioritized technology by shaking up teams, making key hires, and adding new streaming features.
Paramount merged some technical streaming teams in March, Business Insider reported. The company said that putting the Paramount+ Global Quality Engineering group and Pluto TV’s Software Test Engineering team under one roof helped facilitate “AI enablement and automated testing.”
Ellison’s company has also emphasized data by expanding the role of EVP Jason Kim, who, since January, has overseen data and insights across all of Paramount, not just streaming.
Paramount has made several key hires. They include former Google AI executive Barak Turovsky as head of consumer AI; fellow former Google executive Hugh Williams as an EVP; and former Amazon ad sales leader Danielle Carney as head of its US ad sales group. Ellison has also brought over product chief Dane Glasgow from Meta and revenue chief Jay Askinasi from Roku.
Paramount has had key departures as well, including former tech chief Phil Wiser in May and former head of streaming product and tech Vibol Hou in January.
Besides marrying the tech stacks of Paramount+ and Pluto TV, Paramount hopes to boost streaming engagement by adding vertical video clips and interactive features, such as a shopping tool. The company is exploring adding video podcasts; rival Netflix recently made a major move into licensed podcasts.
Paramount’s most transformative change would be buying Warner Bros. Discovery, which would give it control of the Warner Bros. Studio, HBO, HBO Max, and cable networks like CNN. The merger still needs regulatory approval in the US and abroad, which the company hopes to get by the end of September.
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