Skydance Ousts Eight Distribution Execs in Post-Merger Restructure

By Elena Vasquez

Skydance is cutting eight senior distribution executives who came from Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery, according to an internal memo dated Nov. 3 from Ray Hopkins, president of distribution. The moves come less than a month after the megamerger of David Ellison's Paramount Skydance and WBD closed on Oct. 6.

Hopkins named two Executive Vice Presidents of Distribution to lead the team: Sarah Bergman, an HBO veteran who most recently ran network and streaming distribution at WBD, and Mickey Carter, formerly EVP of distribution at Paramount. The pair will split responsibility for negotiating distribution agreements and managing partnerships.

The scope they inherit is vast. The Skydance distribution team handles deals for:

• CBS owned-and-operated stations
• 55 basic cable networks
• Paramount+, HBO Max and Discovery+
• Pluto TV
• Over 100 FAST channels

Who is leaving?

The eight departing executives span WBD, Paramount, CBS and Showtime:

• Rivka Golomb, WBD head of distribution strategy and finance
• Kelly Kane, WBD SVP, partner marketing
• Jeff Cross, WBD EVP, legal, distribution and commercial partnerships
• Rich Palermo, WBD EVP, network and streaming distribution
• David Comisar, CBS SVP, affiliate distribution
• Kurt Davis, EVP, CBS affiliate relations
• Deena Demasi, Paramount EVP of marketing, distribution and business development
• Ken Kay, Showtime EVP of distribution and affiliate marketing

Cross will remain a senior adviser to the distribution business even as he exits the company, Hopkins wrote.

Who takes on what?

Hopkins announced six additional appointments in the same memo. Brad Shipley, EVP of business development and strategy, will oversee strategy, new growth partnerships, Pluto TV and FAST distribution, advanced advertising partnerships, business planning and analytics — and will serve as distribution lead for Skydance Global Sports Group.

Patrick Cavanaugh, EVP and CFO of distribution finance, will lead economics for all linear and streaming negotiations. Rick Baker, EVP and deputy general counsel, takes over business and legal affairs across linear and streaming. Joe Bahr, SVP of partner operations, will manage operational issues across partners. Andrew Borak, SVP of marketing, will lead the combined distribution marketing function.

Two executives anchor the CBS affiliate side. Bob Aguanno, SVP of CBS affiliate relations, will manage relationships with roughly 200 CBS affiliate TV stations and work with the CBS Network affiliate board. John Bagwell, SVP and associate general counsel, will negotiate contracts with the station groups and that board.

What sits behind the shakeup?

Hopkins reports to JB Perrette, the former Warner Bros. Discovery executive who now serves as co-chair and chief business officer of Skydance TV and Skydance Direct-to-Consumer. With Hopkins' appointment, Scott Miller — previously WBD's president of networks and streaming distribution — exited the company.

The financial stakes are explicit. Skydance executives have targeted $6 billion in annualized cost savings from the Paramount-WBD combination. That figure works out to roughly $500 million per month if spread across a year.

Mass layoffs are expected before the end of this year, according to the company's own signals. An Oct. 26 companywide memo from Ellison and co-CEO Ynon Kreiz offered certain eligible employees voluntary buyout packages, an early exit valve before forced cuts begin.

Reuters first reported the distribution team changes.

With $6 billion in savings pledged and buyouts already on the table, the eight departures announced Nov. 3 look less like an ending than the first measurable installment of a much larger restructuring.