Paramount is about to be led by Jeff Shell, who may have a runway to make bold changes he couldn't at NBC.

• After the merger of Paramount Global and Skydance Media is finalized, Jeff Shell will assume the role of president at Paramount Global.
• At NBCUniversal, Shell was known for his big ideas and a "shoot first and aim later" approach.
• David Ellison, CEO of the combined company, may give Shell more freedom to make bold decisions at Paramount Global.

Jeff Shell, who was fired from NBCUniversal for alleged sexual harassment less than two years ago, is now close to returning as CEO of a media company.

The longtime media executive will become the president of the merged company, Skydance Media, when the merger with closes in the first half of 2025, assuming regulatory approval. He will report to current Skydance CEO David Ellison, who will take the top job as the combined company's CEO.

Shell's experience as CEO of NBCUniversal, the parent company of CNBC, may provide insight into his intentions for Paramount Global, which is currently involved in a merger with Viacom.

A dozen people who worked closely with Shell during his tenure as CEO from 2019 to 2023 described him as a person with big ideas and a willingness to make bold moves but with a style that depends on those around him to talk him out of decisions that may not make sense. Some of Shell's boldest ideas, such as giving NBC's 10 p.m. hour over to affiliates, merging with a rival, and turning CNBC prime time into a business-focused Fox News facsimile, never played out.

In 2019, Comcast CEO Brian Roberts appointed Shell as the new CEO of NBCUniversal, replacing Steve Burke. Shell had a proven track record of success in managing various divisions within Comcast and NBCUniversal, including NBCU International and Universal Filmed Entertainment Group.

CNBC colleagues found Shell to be a good listener and a collaborative decision-maker with a tendency to sometimes speak too much. His departure from NBCUniversal was sudden. In April 2023, a Comcast investigation confirmed allegations of sexual harassment from a former CNBC reporter. Shell then joined private equity firm RedBird Capital Partners in February, where he backed the Skydance-Paramount merger and assumed a minority equity stake.

In the near future, Shell, 59, will become the CEO of Paramount and work alongside Ellison, who has previously stated his intention to transform Paramount into a more contemporary media company. This may create a situation where both the CEO and president of Paramount are pushing for significant changes.

During a July conference call, RedBird executives commended Shell for its long-term, results-oriented, and proven track record at NBCUniversal. RedBird Partner Andrew Brandon-Gordon specifically noted that Shell's leadership dynamic with Ellison's creativity and tech savvy would be ideal for the future of Paramount.

At NBCUniversal, Shell was known for its "shoot first and aim later" mentality, which was described by a former coworker as a "destabilizing" approach to discussing dramatic ideas. This mindset could lead to rash decision-making, warned one executive who worked closely with Shell at NBCUniversal.

"The executive who worked closely with Shell stated that Paramount requires mature leadership and blocking and tackling, as opposed to Ellison's explosive approach."

Shell and Ellison both declined to comment for this story.

The 10 p.m. hour

At Paramount, Shell will be given a similar asset mix to what he managed at NBCUniversal, excluding theme parks. He will have a major broadcast network with NFL rights (CBS), a movie studio (Paramount Pictures), a streaming service with millions of subscribers (Paramount+), a vast collection of TV shows and films, and a declining number of cable networks.

The merger between Paramount Global and Skydance will require Shell to reduce costs by $2 billion through cost efficiencies and synergies, as stated during a July conference call with investors. This may involve making significant changes to underperforming businesses and investing in technology to modernize the company.

According to sources, there is a possibility that CBS, Paramount Global's national broadcast network, may consider reviving the idea of ending the 10 p.m. hour, as NBC had contemplated. This would save CBS millions on content costs and provide local affiliates with an opportunity to increase their advertising revenue.

In a 2022 CNBC interview, Shell acknowledged a Wall Street Journal report that he was considering transferring the hour to local affiliates in order to redirect resources from linear broadcast TV to streaming.

"As prudent operators, we must allocate resources wisely to one side of the business while considering the allocation of resources to another. We make a lot of money at 10 o'clock, and we still have a significant number of viewers at that time. However, throughout the day, we will experience linear declines, and we will need to make trade-offs. As our investors would expect, we will carefully evaluate these decisions."

The 10 p.m. hour on traditional TV networks remains a time slot for scripted dramas, a genre that has largely shifted to streaming platforms and has resulted in declining ratings. CBS' 10 p.m. programming includes "NCIS: Origins," "FBI: Most Wanted," "Elsbeth," and "Blue Bloods," which is currently in its 14th season.

In late 2022, George Cheeks, co-CEO of Paramount Global and head of CBS, stated to Deadline that he was dedicated to maintaining the network's ratings success at 10 p.m.

According to sources, Shell ultimately decided not to give up the 10 p.m. hour to NBC after considering the potential fallout with Hollywood creatives and agents. Such a move at NBCUniversal could harm relationships with TV titans like "Law & Order" creator Dick Wolf, whose shows have occupied the 10 p.m. hour on NBC for years and have provided a valuable library for NBCUniversal's flagship streaming service, Peacock. Annoying Hollywood would have gone against Shell's strategy to increase Peacock's content catalog, as NBCUniversal needed strong relationships to provide the service with new programming.

According to a source, NBCUniversal's shows featuring wolves were also substantial revenue generators.

If NBC had given up the 10 p.m. hour, it would have negatively impacted the ratings of "The Tonight Show." As the highest-rated late night show, "The Late Show With Stephen Colbert" could make Shell hesitate to change the time slot once they take control of Paramount's assets.

The downsizing of late night shows has begun, and Shell may be considering ending the genre altogether.

It's evident that the traditional linear TV format requires modification.

"Shell acknowledged during the July conference call that a significant portion of the company operates in the linear world, which is facing challenges and decline. The company recognizes the need to adapt its business model as linear declines, and has developed a bottom-up plan to manage its linear businesses for cash flow generation."

Streaming partner

Shell may consider examining Paramount's content windowing strategy, which could involve tiering Paramount+ differently, with some popular content available on more expensive tiers, perhaps ad-free, and shifting to less expensive tiers, including free ad-supported Pluto, over time.

Shell expressed his belief in the windowing strategy and suggested that there might be a more efficient way to maximize the value of their content, while continuing to be in the direct-to-consumer (DTC) business during the July conference call.

Some analysts, including LightShed Partners' Rich Greenfield, have suggested that Paramount Global should abandon Paramount+ and instead license its content to larger streaming platforms. Despite consistently losing money since its launch, Paramount+ is expected to become profitable by 2025, the company has previously stated.

It seems that Ellison and Shell's plan for Paramount+ does not involve partnering with another streamer through a merger or a bundle. Instead, Paramount Global has been in discussions with various media companies about potential streaming partnerships, including NBCUniversal.

"Becoming a winner in streaming requires being part of the ultimate package that's coming," Shell stated during the July conference call. "We've received numerous inquiries about potential partnerships with other players or groups."

According to sources, Shell privately advocated for merging with another content company at NBCUniversal, although this never came to fruition.

According to sources, he advocated for merging with Viacom, WarnerMedia, and others in meetings to strengthen Peacock's position against larger streaming services.

Despite CEO Brian Roberts' initial approval of a merger between NBCUniversal and video game developer Electronic Arts, the deal ultimately fell through due to regulatory hurdles and the belief that it wasn't in the best interest of shareholders. As a result, Shell would have lost his job as NBCUniversal CEO and Andrew Wilson would have taken over the role.

Changing cable

During the pandemic lockdowns, Shell urged NBCUniversal to increase the amount of content on Peacock, particularly in the cable programming category, as Wall Street seemed to highly value media companies based on their streaming subscriber numbers. According to sources, he suggested that NBCUniversal should move most of its cable programming to Peacock, including regional sports networks.

The people said that other executives convinced him to be less aggressive, arguing that the company's existing pay TV distribution relationships would be damaged if NBCUniversal made that content available outside the cable bundle, and geolocation technology issues around regional sports would have made it difficult to include RSNs.

Although NBCUniversal has integrated more cable content on Peacock, including popular Bravo series such as "The Real Housewives" and "Below Deck," it maintains the separation of its RSNs and news networks, MSNBC and CNBC.

Shell will have to decide what to do with a group of cable channels that have become essentially dormant, mainly showing reruns of the same programs to save on new content production. These channels are MTV, VH1, and Comedy Central.

NBCUniversal considered merging some of its cable networks to reduce costs and combat declining revenue, according to sources, but ultimately opted against it.

Shell had ideas for changing programming on some of NBC's cable networks, including a center-right prime-time lineup for CNBC. However, these ideas did not come to fruition. At the time, people familiar with the discussions said that Shell felt that Fox News had largely abandoned talking about business issues, leaving CNBC with an opportunity to reach an audience that was no longer being served.

In 2020, CNBC hired former Fox News anchor Shepard Smith to anchor a prime-time show, but the show was canceled just months after Hoffman retired, according to sources. Hoffman declined to comment on the matter.

Upon taking the NBCUniversal job, one of Shell's first accomplishments was renewing the network's "Sunday Night Football" deal with the NFL. One of the last things he did was support NBC Sports' bid for NBA rights if it got an opportunity. NBC did get the chance to bid and is now bringing back NBA games beginning in 2025 after agreeing to pay about $2.45 billion per season to the league.

During the July conference call, both Shell and Ellison emphasized the significance of CBS Sports. Despite Paramount's layoffs in September, none of the CBS Sports staff were affected, as confirmed by a source.

CBS has a Sunday afternoon package of various sports, including NFL games, NCAA March Madness, Big Ten football, UEFA Champions League, and The Masters. If suitable opportunities arise, it is possible that Shell may shift its focus from CBS entertainment programming to sports, even during prime time.

Disclosure: Comcast's NBCUniversal is the parent company of CNBC.

Paramount's future trajectory can only be altered by Skydance over time.