17 Oct Bob Bakish Wants to Sell You a Show: Paramount Global Chief Talks Power of ‘New Age’ Content Licensing Deals [Variety]
BY CYNTHIA LITTLETON
October 17, 2023 | Paramount Global CEO Bob Bakish delivered a testimonial to the power of “new age” local and regional content licensing partnerships during a wide-ranging Q&A held Tuesday after the Viacom veteran was feted as Mipcom’s Personality of the Year.
During the Q&A that followed the award presentation, Bakish batted down industry speculation about Paramount’s financial health (“To say we were saved by the strikes is totally an overstatement”) and his hope that the SAG-AFTRA strike will soon be in Hollywood’s rear-view mirror (“We’ll get there”).
Paramount Global unveiled a multi-year pact with Greek pay TV service Cosmote TV just before Bakish sat for a Q&A with Variety co-editor in chief Cynthia Littleton. As Bakish detailed, that deal is symbolic of a boomerang in the marketplace. The largest Hollywood studios in recent years sought to hold back the sale of movies and TV shows in key territories outside the U.S. in an effort to stock fledgling streaming platforms with high-wattage exclusive content.