Skydance Unveils Unified Executive Leadership Team for Combined Television and Direct-to-Consumer Operations Following Historic Merger

The media landscape is undergoing its most profound transformation in decades as corporate integrations reshape the boundaries of traditional broadcasting and digital streaming. Following the monumental $110 billion merger that officially united Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount this month to form the newly minted Skydance, corporate leadership has begun the complex process of consolidating operations. In the latest step of this massive structural realignment, JB Perrette—serving in the dual role of Co-Chair and Chief Business Officer for Skydance TV and Skydance Direct-To-Consumer (DTC)—has announced his newly appointed executive leadership team. This sweeping organizational reset is designed to bridge the traditionally distinct worlds of linear television and subscription streaming, creating a unified corporate engine capable of navigating a rapidly shifting consumer marketplace.

Perrette, widely recognized for his instrumental role in spearheading the global expansion of HBO Max, stands as one of the few legacy executives from the Warner Bros. Discovery fold to retain a top-tier leadership position within the newly combined corporate hierarchy. His mandate is as expansive as it is delicate: to harmonize legacy broadcast networks with cutting-edge digital platforms while maximizing both strategic synergies and financial efficiencies. However, this large-scale consolidation has inevitably brought significant personnel changes, resulting in the departure of several high-profile executives who helped guide the predecessor companies through their respective evolutions.

A Timeline of Consolidation and Corporate Restructuring

The formation of Skydance through the merger of Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount represents a defining moment in modern entertainment history. Valued at approximately $110 billion, the transaction brings together immense libraries of intellectual property, major Hollywood studios, global news networks, and an extensive portfolio of streaming services. Planning for the merger began amid intensifying pressure within the media sector, as traditional entertainment companies grappled with declining linear television revenues, soaring content production costs, and the ongoing transition of global audiences toward on-demand digital viewing.

Earlier this month, following the official closing of the transaction, Skydance leadership—including CEO David Ellison and Co-CEO Ynon Kreiz—laid out the broad strokes of the company’s structural vision. They established that bridging linear television and direct-to-consumer streaming would be foundational to the company’s future profitability. Building upon that framework, Perrette’s recent announcement details the operational leadership tasked with executing this strategy on a global scale.

As part of the newly minted organizational chart, several veteran executives are exiting the company. Perrette acknowledged the departures of Dan Barnes, Michael Bishara, Jamie Cooke, Domenic DiMeglio, Marco Nobili, Pank Patel, and Juan Sola in an internal communication to staff. Additionally, the leadership position for Pluto, the pioneering free ad-supported streaming television (FAST) service, remains temporarily unassigned as the company conducts a comprehensive executive search. This search aims to identify a leader capable of integrating the FAST platform effectively alongside subscription siblings Paramount+ and HBO Max.

Structural Architecture: Bridging DTC and Television

In his internal memo to employees, Perrette emphasized that consumer behavior and industry dynamics are evolving at an unprecedented pace. Consequently, the traditional organizational walls separating linear broadcast networks from streaming platforms must be dismantled.

“As you learned from David and Ynon earlier this month, my role in the company is one that purposefully bridges DTC and TV,” Perrette wrote. He stressed that success relies on transforming local and global setups into a powerful collaborative network rather than an encumbering corporate matrix. The overarching objective is to ensure that the combined portfolio of assets functions cohesively to delight consumers worldwide while operating as a robust cash and revenue growth engine for the enterprise.

To achieve this balance, the newly established leadership structure features executives dedicated specifically to television, others focused entirely on digital streaming, and several leaders operating across multiple domains. The operational framework is divided into global functional units and regional geographic segments designed to leverage both worldwide scale and localized market expertise.

Global Functional Leadership

The newly minted global leadership team incorporates seasoned executives tasked with standardizing key operational functions across the enterprise:

• Communications: Jeff Cusson steps into the role of Executive Vice President and Head of Communications for Skydance DTC. Operating with a shared reporting line to Perrette, Casey, and Skydance Chief Communications Officer Mel Zukerman, Cusson will oversee the overarching messaging strategy for the streaming portfolio, with international communications teams hard-lining into his organization while maintaining localized dotted-line relationships with regional managing directors.
• Marketing: Shauna Spenley expands her portfolio as Chief Marketing Officer for Global DTC and International TV. Spenley will oversee marketing efforts for international television in partnership with Perrette and George Cheeks, absorbing marketing teams previously managed by Juan Sola and Domenic DiMeglio.
• International Operations: Trey Turner assumes the newly created role of Chief Operating Officer of International, reporting directly to Perrette while maintaining his financial responsibilities. Turner’s expanded team will incorporate Pank Patel’s former strategy unit alongside Louis Goldstein, Vanessa Brookman, Lee Hobbs, and Myriam Lopez-Otazu.
• Digital Operations and Finance: Josh Walker takes on a dual role as Chief Operating Officer of DTC and Chief Financial Officer of DTC, reporting to Perrette and Skydance CFO Dennis Cinelli, respectively. Walker will oversee content strategy, business planning, pricing, and podcasting, absorbing teams previously led by Michael Bishara.
• Television Finance: Liz Wright has been named Chief Financial Officer for the Skydance TV segment, where she will direct financial operations for CBS and the global television networks business, reporting to Dennis Cinelli while partnering closely with George Cheeks and Perrette.
• AVOD and Pluto Strategy: The leadership vacancy for Pluto and AVOD services remains open, with an active executive search underway. In the interim, Olivier Jollet, Will Gurman, and Kevin Kroll will report directly to Josh Walker and Perrette.

Regional and Local Operations

Recognizing the necessity of localized market execution, Skydance has established four key regional oversight zones outside the United States. These regional leaders will directly manage distribution, advertising sales, commercial development, and television programming across both linear networks and streaming platforms within their respective territories:

• Europe and Africa: Andrew Georgiou serves as the interim President and Managing Director for Europe and Africa, guiding the division through its transitional phase. His regional team includes Alessandro Araimo as Managing Director for Southern Europe (covering Italy, Spain, France, Turkey, and Africa); Qaisar Rafique as Executive Vice President of Commercial Development for Europe; Reemah Sakaan as President and Managing Director for the UK and Ireland (retaining her leadership of Channel 5); and Christina Sulebakk as Managing Director for the Nordics, GSA (Germany, Switzerland, Austria), and Benelux.
• Asia Pacific and Middle East (APAC & MENA): James Gibbons takes the helm as President and Managing Director for the region, overseeing expanded teams that include Beverley McGarvey, Jason Monteiro, and Shonali Bedi.
• Poland: Kasia Kieli continues her leadership as President and Managing Director, overseeing Poland as an integrated media market encompassing television, digital publishing, news, sports, and studio operations.
• Latin America and US Hispanic: Fernando Medin assumes the role of President and Managing Director for Latin America and the US Hispanic market, with Adam Waltuch joining his regional team.

Strategic Implications and Industry Outlook

The rollout of Skydance’s unified leadership team marks a critical milestone in the post-merger integration process. By placing traditional broadcast veterans and digital streaming pioneers under a consolidated management structure, Skydance is signaling a strategic shift away from the siloed operational models that characterized the early streaming boom.

Financial analysts note that media conglomerates are increasingly pressured to demonstrate immediate profitability rather than unmitigated subscriber growth. By fusing the cash-flow generation of established linear television networks with the expansive reach of direct-to-consumer streaming platforms, Skydance aims to build a resilient financial model capable of weathering macroeconomic fluctuations and shifting consumer habits.

However, the integration path is not without its hurdles. The consolidation of major corporate entities inevitably brings cultural adjustments, operational redundancies, and difficult workforce reductions. Perrette acknowledged the friction and anxiety inherent in such massive corporate transitions, emphasizing transparency and speed in executing the final structural alignments.

As the newly appointed executive team steps into their expanded roles, the broader entertainment industry will be watching closely. The success of Skydance’s dual-pillar strategy—effectively balancing linear broadcast stability with digital streaming innovation—could well establish a new operational blueprint for the modern media ecosystem in an era defined by convergence and scale.