Paramount Network’s Keith Cox and Comedy Central’s Sarah Babineau are taking on new, expanded roles as ViacomCBS continues to reorganize its management structure following last month’s merger.
Babineau, most recently co-head of original content for Comedy Central, has been elevated to head of Comedy Central content and creative enterprises. In the new role, she will oversee all creative content and talent development for Comedy Central, including series, CC Films, as well as projects from Comedy Central Productions for third parties.
Jonas Larsen, who was promoted to co-head alongside Babineau last July, will exit the company.
Cox will serve in the newly created role of president of entertainment and youth studios. He will lead the company’s third-party development push — overseeing MTV Studios, Smithsonian Channel Studios, CMT Studios and Pop Studios — which is said to be a major priority for ViacomCBS chief Bob Bakish. CC Productions will remain under Babineau’s purview.
In addition, Cox will continue to oversee long-form scripted programming for Paramount Network.
The promotions were announced by Chris McCarthy, president of ViacomCBS’s entertainment and youth group.
Earlier this week, ViacomCBS shuffled oversight for several of its networks, the latest in a larger reorganization effort following the close of the merger between Viacom and CBS Corporation in December. Pop TV, previously under the Showtime umbrella at CBS, was moved under McCarthy’s oversight, and Bellator MMA was moved under Showtime Sports president Stephen Espinoza.
Previously, BET Networks was moved under the oversight of ViacomCBS chief creative officer David Nevins.
Read the full memo announcing the promotions below.
Team,
As we move forward as one combined Entertainment & Youth Group, I feel very optimistic and confident in our shared future.
Looking ahead, we are building a leadership team that maximizes our full potential. At the same time, we are providing specialized leadership at the brand level where there are opportunities to super-serve unique communities and at the new business level to expedite our growth in streaming and studio sales.
To that end, I am excited to announce the following:
Sarah Babineau – has been promoted to Head of Comedy Central Content & Creative Enterprises. In this new role, Sarah will oversee all creative content and talent development for Comedy Central including shows, CC Films, projects from Comedy Central Productions for third parties, tent-poles, games and ancillary businesses. In addition, Sarah will serve as our lead for the comedy creative community.
Keith Cox – will serve in the newly created role of President of Entertainment & Youth Studios where he will super-charge our growth in third party content development, overseeing all scripted series for our brands and studios (with the exception of Comedy Central). In addition, Keith will continue to lead long-form scripted series on the Paramount Network.
Tom Hayden – will continue as President of the Smithsonian Channel which celebrates our shared history through award-winning content.
Brad Schwartz – will continue as President of Pop TV which has built an impressive brand with lots of buzz, big shows and bold characters.
Please join me in congratulating Sarah and Keith on their new and expanded roles and welcoming Brad, Tom and their teams.
Finally, I’d like to thank Jonas Larsen, Co-Head of Original Content at Comedy Central, who will be exiting the organization. Jonas is one of Comedy Central’s key architects having built many brand-defining franchises and hit tentpoles – from the “Comedy Central Roasts” to the Peabody-winning “D.L. Hughley: The Endangered List” and, most recently “Lights Out with David Spade” and the acclaimed scripted series “South Side.” He led the charge for CC’s events, helming the Emmy®-nominated “Key & Peele” Super Bowl special, as well as the immersive event “Clusterfest.” We would like to thank him for his leadership and his many lasting contributions, including an amazing West Coast creative team.
Thanks,
Chris