Paramount has tapped Shannon Buck as its new EVP and head of communications and PR for direct-to-consumer operations.
In her new role, which officially begins on Tuesday, Buck will also oversee global communications and publicity strategy for Paramount, working closely with direct-to-consumer chair Cindy Holland and chief communications officer Melissa Zukerman.
Buck joins from NBCUniversal, where she most recently served as head of integrated communications across their television and studio group. Buck first joined NBCUniversal in January 2023 as head of publicity for Peacock, where she spearheaded media efforts that brought reality series “Love Island” and “The Traitors” into the cultural zeitgeist.
“Shannon is a seasoned strategic communications executive with over 20 years leading publicity and communications for content across platforms, specializing in direct-to-consumer audience engagement and brand building,” Holland wrote in a memo to staffers. “She has a proven track record of developing award-winning campaigns, with particular expertise in strategies that drive subscriber acquisition and retention.”
Before NBCUniversal, Buck formerly served as VP of series publicity at Netflix for six years, where she led campaigns for “Bridgerton,” “Stranger Things,” “The Queen’s Gambit,” “The Crown,” “Emily in Paris,” “Queer Eye,” “Love Is Blind” and “The Circle,” among others. Holland pointed to Buck’s six-year run at Netflix as a time that “demonstrated particular success in international campaign coordination and scaling teams with an eye towards innovation.”
Prior to Netflix, Buck was SVP of programming publicity for Starz and served as VP at the agency FerenComm, where she worked for clients including Bravo, Food Network, AMC, WeTV, DIY Network, Sundance Channel, Starz and History Channel. Buck started her career as a media relations coordinator for Fox News Channel. She also serves as a Governor for the PR peer group for the Television Academy.
Buck’s hire comes as Paramount continues to bolster its staff following the Skydance merger, including Marvel Entertainment veteran Josh Silverman joining as Paramount’s new president of global products and experiences and Bari Weiss joining as CBS News’ inaugural editor-in-chief.
