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\n\tParamount today held its first upfront presentation since the company last held court at Carnegie Hall in 2022. The event at the Paramount Theatre on the historic studio lot in Los Angeles, held almost a month ahead of the traditional upfront week, was the first upfront for New Paramount following the August acquisition by Skydance. <\/p>\n
\n\tIt marked the upfront stage debut for most of the presenting executives, including Paramount CEO David Ellison, who did opening remarks just a couple of hours after his appearance at CinemaCon in Las Vegas; Chief Revenue Officer Jay Askinasi; as well Chair of Direct-to-Consumer Cindy Holland, whose 18-year Netflix tenure wrapped before the streamer got into the ad business; and CBS Entertainment President Amy Reisenbach, who was promoted to the job months after Paramount Global\u2019s last upfront presentation. <\/p>\n
\n\tAddressing ad buyers in a formal way for the first time, Holland, in a on-stage conversation moderated by Askinasi, laid out her programming strategy for Paramount+.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cOne of the things that we\u2019re really focused on the first few green lights, that decisions that we made when we got to Paramount, was thinking about female forward dramas in particular, even though it\u2019s true that The Madison<\/em> is sort of the first example that was already here,\u201d she said, echoing comments she had made before. <\/p>\n \n\tThe Madison,<\/em> starring Michelle Pfeiffer, comes from prolific Paramount+ creator Taylor Sheridan. It recently launched as Sheridan\u2019s biggest series debut, with Holland calling Pfeiffer \u201ca revelation.\u201d The push for female-driven shows is designed to balance out the streamer\u2019s current slate which is dominated by Sheridan and Star Trek<\/em> series.<\/p>\n \n\tThey are known for their male appeal even through Holland noted that \u201cthe audience for [Sheridan\u2019s] Landman i<\/em>s about 50% women, but people perceive it and slightly more male lens.\u201d Sheridan\u2019s other hits include Tulsa King<\/em> and Mayor of Kingstown<\/em>. <\/p>\n \n\tHolland gave a couple of examples of some of Paramount+\u2019s biggest buys under the new regime so far, all in bidding wars.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cWe know that that female forward ensemble shows, dramas, legal thrillers, soapy thrillers, are things that we were looking for,\u201d she said. \u201cSo the first two things that we bring that through that lens were a series called Discretion<\/em>, starring Nicole Kidman and Elle Fanning; it\u2019s a mentor, mentee relationship set in a legal world. And also a limited series starring Anne Hathaway called Fear Not<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tOnce the slate is balanced out, Holland will have the focus spread out as the goal for the streamer she shared on Day 1 after the merger was to \u201cmake sure that we\u2019re offering programming for everybody.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tShe reinforced that commitment today and confirmed the volume ramp-up signaled by Ellison who had promised increased budget for scripted originals.<\/p>\n \n\tSpeaking of big sport franchises carried by Paramount, Holland highlighted NFL games, simulcast with CBS. <\/p>\n \n\t\u201cObviously, the NFL is a huge audience funnel, very large, very diverse, and we want to continue to program against different segments, and the job is to increase the programming,\u201d she said. \u201cWe\u2019re also going to welcome the BET+ community to Paramount+ in May, and it\u2019s a privilege and an honor for us to welcome that community and their stories and bring them to a larger audience. <\/p>\n \n\tAs Deadline reported in March, BET+ will be folded into Paramount+ in May.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n