Skydance TV: George Cheeks Unveils the New Leadership Team

TVS News AI, editorially supervised, presents Skydance TV: George Cheeks Unveils the New Leadership Team.

Ten executives, four programming areas and a new studio group: George Cheeks unveiled the new leadership structure of Skydance TV on Wednesday afternoon. The co-chair and chief content officer points to the completed Warner Bros. Discovery deal. His remit now extends from Hollywood’s largest TV studio through Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery’s cable networks to the CBS network.

This is more than a personnel announcement. Cheeks is not merely assigning individual positions, but bringing production, content, sports, news, marketing and communications together within a shared structure. Many executives will remain responsible for their existing areas. What is new above all is the extent to which responsibility now reports directly to Cheeks’ team.

The team

The ten leaders named in the memo are Channing Dungey, David Stapf, Matt Thunell, David Berson, Amy Reisenbach, Tom Cibrowski, Bryon Rubin, Laurel Weir, Mike Benson and Chris Ender. They cover studio production, entertainment, sports, news and Skydance TV’s cross-functional areas.

Cheeks identifies three priorities in his memo: delivering great stories, maximizing the value of programming, franchises and brands, and strengthening the connection with audiences. He is placing emphasis on collaboration across all levels of the hierarchy. That sounds abstract, but the new structure makes it concrete: studio, sports and programming teams report to the same leadership circle, while central functions such as research, marketing and communications serve the entire portfolio.

Skydance TV Studios Connects Hollywood With Streaming and Broadcast

The organizational core is Skydance TV Studios. The Warner Bros. Television Group, CBS Studios and Paramount Television Studios are based within this area. Large parts of production for scripted series, reality and entertainment formats, as well as animation, therefore sit under a common umbrella.

Channing Dungey will remain head of the Warner Bros. Television Group, where he is responsible for its portfolio of scripted, unscripted and animation. He will also oversee the combined cable portfolio of Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery, comprising more than 50 brands. According to Cheeks’ memo, these include HGTV, Food Network, TNT, BET and MTV, among others.

For networks outside the United States, Dungey will report to Cheeks on programming matters and to JB Perrette on operational matters. This division is new: production at the Warner group and international management of the cable portfolio will therefore fall under the same executive, but along different reporting lines.

There is clear continuity in personnel across the studios. David Stapf will continue to lead CBS Studios. The studio produces, among other titles, NCIS, which Cheeks’ memo describes as the world’s most successful television franchise, as well as NCIS: New York, Sheriff Country, Little House on the Prairie and Murderbot. The memo describes NCIS: New York as the broadcast season’s number-one new arrival. The See It Now Studios will henceforth operate as a label within CBS Studios.

Matt Thunell will be responsible for Paramount Television Studios. It produces premium series for streaming and broadcast, including Reacher, the spin-off Neagley, and projects from the Taylor Sheridan universe: Dutton Ranch, Landman, Lioness and Marshals.

Sports and Entertainment Receive Their Own Leadership

Skydance Sports Entertainment will become part of the Skydance TV Studios Group. In his memo, Cheeks announces further details for this area in due course. David Berson, previously head of the Global Sports Group, will continue to lead the global unit. His portfolio includes the live-sports activities of CBS Sports, TNT Sports and WBD Sports across all platforms, as well as in partnership with JB Perrette and the international team outside the United States.

According to the memo, the sports rights include, among others, the NFL, UEFA Champions League, NHL, MLB, March Madness, PGA Tour, The Masters, WNBA, NASCAR and College Football. Operational responsibility for major live-sports rights and the global direction of the business therefore sits directly within Skydance TV’s new leadership circle.

In entertainment, Amy Reisenbach will remain at the helm of CBS Entertainment. Cheeks describes the team as a cornerstone of the multichannel strategy and points to television’s most-watched prime-time program. As a current example, the memo cites the drama series Cupertino, which currently has a 100 percent “Certified Fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Tom Cibrowski will retain operational responsibility for CBS News’ broadcast, streaming and digital divisions. His focus will be on his experience in morning television, which he will bring to CBS Mornings, as well as on further stabilizing the ratings for CBS Evening News.

Four Cross-Functional Areas Connect the Programming Divisions

The ten people represent more than ten departments. Four functions cut across studios, broadcast, cable, sports and news, bringing them together into an integrated leadership team.

Operations and the broadcast group

Bryon Rubin will become chief operating officer of Skydance TV. He will work with all division heads on strategic and operational matters while also remaining responsible for domestic CBS syndication. He will additionally oversee the CBS Television Stations Group. The group’s president, Jennifer Mitchell, will have a dotted-line reporting relationship to Cheeks and become part of his Skydance TV leadership team.

Programming and research

Laurel Weir will be responsible for research and programming information across Skydance TV’s broadcast, cable and studio activities. Her teams will provide insights into audiences and viewing behavior while working with creative and marketing executives. In parallel, Weir will remain responsible for the content strategy, programming and content acquisitions of Paramount’s cable networks while integration planning proceeds.

Marketing and communications

Mike Benson will lead marketing across the entire portfolio. He is expected to strengthen brands, improve the discovery of programming, and promote launches through both traditional and newer media formats. He will report on a dotted-line basis to Rebecca Mall, Skydance’s chief marketing officer.

Chris Ender will take over communications and publicity. He will serve as Skydance TV’s spokesperson, lead the communications teams in the individual divisions, and support Perrette on business and operational matters. Here, too, there will be a dotted-line connection to Melissa Zukerman, Skydance’s chief communications officer.

The reporting by Deadline and The Hollywood Reporter thus depicts a clear reorganization: Channing Dungey brings together the Warner Bros. Television Studios with more than 50 cable networks, while Skydance TV Studios consolidates the studio organization. The memo does not yet provide a complete schedule for the further integration. Cheeks tells employees that more information will follow in the early stages.