On Tuesday afternoon, Paramount Television Studios (PTS) announced that it would be shutting down. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the studio’s closure results from Paramount Global’s cost-cutting due to the recent rocky economy within the entertainment industry and as an effort to “generate annual run-rate cost savings of $500 million.”
The announcement comes after Paramount laid off 15% of its U.S. employees last week. By September around 90% of workers affected by the layoffs will be gone. With PTS’s closure, all its current and developing projects will be moved to CBS Studios.
The studio started eleven years ago as the second effort to get Paramount into the TV business. While in operation, the studio produced many TV shows including “The Offer”, “The Spiderwick Chronicles”, “Time Bandits”, and more.
“This has been a challenging and transformative time for the entire industry, and sadly, our studio is not immune,” said Paramount Television Studios president Nicole Clemens. Over the past 11 years, she said, the studio “has weathered seemingly insurmountable obstacles through a combination of strength, determination, and unwavering commitment. We met these challenges with incredible resilience, creativity, and passion for what we do, and I could not be prouder of our team. We’ve also had the privilege to collaborate with some of the most brilliant creative talent in the industry to help tell incredible stories seen around the world, entertaining and shaping culture.”
In a separate statement, Paramount Global Co-CEP George Cheeks assured workers that the shutdown had nothing to do with how it performed. That said, he said that the layoffs resulting in PTS’s closing would also affect workers at CBS as well.
“These are valued colleagues we admire and respect, whose talents contributed to the leadership position we enjoy today. I want to express my deepest gratitude for their contributions, hard work, and dedication,” wrote Cheeks.“There is a lot of news to unpack today. I know it’s unsettling. I continue to be impressed and grateful for our teams’ ability to stay focused and stick together during this transitional time.”
