Bob Bakish Says “The Notion That The Strikes Have Saved Paramount Is Wildly Overstated” – Mipcom Cannes

deadline.com:

“The notion that the strikes saved the company is wildly overstated,” Bob Bakish said of Paramount today. The Paramount Global boss acknowledged that “the strike is accretive to cash in 2023 and that is true for the [whole] industry” but rubbished the notion of the labor action saving the company, calling it an “overstatement.” “We are playing the hand we were dealt,” said Bakish as he accepted the Mipcom Cannes Personality of the Year Award. “Necessity is the mother of invention but I would say we want this strike to be over so we can resume work.

The notion that it saved the company is wildly overstated.” Bakish cited how Paramount has had to innovate due to the content well drying up, with reality series extended in length andcable shows like Yellowstone airing on CBS.

He acknowledged that “things broke down a bit last week” between the AMPTP and SAG-AFTRA but said the pair are ready to “come back to the table.” In a wide-ranging Mipcom keynote, Bakish passionately reaffirmed Paramount’s commitment to content licensing and said there will be a “significant reduction in streaming losses” next year. “While our peers were pulling back content and putting up walled gardens, we never left [the content licensing game],” he said.

The exec described content licensing as an “ecosystem that gives a robust supply of content from diverse creatives to entertain consumers.” “We share not only a commitment but responsiblity to move the industry forward, to evolve it for our mutual benefit,” he added. “Content licensing was and will continue to be a fundamental part of our economic model.” While simultaneously reaffirming Paramount’s commitment to D2C streaming, he said content partnerships remain vitally important and flagged a