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From a Star Trek fan's perspective, it's interesting that only of the three co-CEOs who's staying with the company, and he oversees CBS Studios, which produces all Trek series.
At the same time, the new ownership has resurrected Paramount TV as a separate division. It's supposed to be the home of streaming services, so there's a chance they'll decide to move the franchise over there, in which case there will be a new boss to deal with.
We'll probably get some clarity in the near-ish future...
I’m wondering about the information that one of Co-CEOs is staying on in another role. Can you provide a source?
This Variety article says:
Tom Ryan, president and CEO of Paramount Streaming, and Mike Ireland, president of Paramount Motion Picture group, also stepped down this week.
For sure - the remaining former co-CEO is George Cheeks, who will be "Chair of TV Media."
His focus is supposed to be focused on linear TV, but Star Trek remains under his watch for now (though the article says, "the decisions are expected to be made on a case-by-case basis, with [Paramount Television co-chair Dana] Goldberg and Cheeks currently in discussions about where the different pieces would land."
Since the deal officially closes tomorrow, and today was mostly focused on the exits, I would imagine we're going to start seeing news about the future plans soon.
Edit: And if Cheeks sounds familiar, it may be because his name is amongst those on the wall in the recent Starfleet Academy trailer.
Given Ellison was a producer on Into Darkness, and has recurrently cited Star Trek in the listings of legacy properties in documents related to the merger, I expect that the CEO will micromanage the franchise for good or ill.
Beyond the fact that I don’t see Cheeks or Goldberg staying more than 18 months, based on typical merger transitions, I can’t see Ellison leaving Star Trek in his management.
Goldberg is coming over from Skydance, where she's been since the company was founded in 2010. I don't think she'll be going anywhere.
As for Cheeks...I guess it's a vote of confidence that he's staying at all, but being in charge of linear TV in 2025 seems like a pretty thankless task.
In all honesty, if I were calling the shots, I'd probably move Trek away from CBS Studios and over to Paramount Television. It makes more sense in terms of the divisions' mission statements, and Paramount TV is under the same leadership as Paramount Pictures, which could make it easier to coordinate a feature film with whatever's going on on the TV side.
The downside to that is losing Cheeks, who seems to have done right by Star Trek. Instead it would be overseen by Goldberg and Matt Thunell, who was President of Television at Skydance. I have no reason to believe either of them would be bad for the franchise, but...there's always a risk when you're leaving the devil you know in favour of one that you don't.