Paramount Global has promoted Lee Sears for the second time in less than a year as it looks to align its domestic and international broadcast, cable and streaming assets to create a global content powerhouse.
“As we focus on driving earnings growth, it is critical that we drive commercial profitability across our business, in close alignment with our global organization,” Pam Kaufman, Paramount president and CEO of international markets, global consumer products and experiences, said in an internal memo obtained by The Hollywood Reporter.
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Kaufman announced that Sears had been promoted to president, international markets advertising sales. In June 2023, Sears was named executive vp, head of international advertising sales and integrated marketing after working in the studio’s international division for five years in various roles.
Kaufman said Sears in an expanded role would lead international sales across Paramount’s streaming, pay TV and, for the first time, free to air broadcasters, “further uniting our commercial portfolio outside the U.S.”
As part of an increasingly global focus at the Hollywood studio, Paramount CEO Bob Bakish discussed partnering with rivals in the U.S. market and internationally to offer streaming bundles after unveiling his fourth quarter financial results on Thursday.
“We already have substantial experience with the power of bundling and streaming. We have hard bundles internationally with people like Sky, Canal and others. They’ve been key to our market entry strategy. They’re unquestionably additive to our Paramount+ sub base and economics,” Bakish told investors.
The full memo from Paramount follows:
From Office of Pam Kaufman
Team,
As we focus on driving earnings growth, it is critical that we drive commercial profitability across our business, in close alignment with our global organization.
I am pleased to share that Lee Sears is expanding his remit to lead our international sales teams across streaming, Pay TV and, now for the first time – our free to air broadcasters, further uniting our commercial portfolio outside the US. As President, International Markets Advertising Sales, Lee will report to John Halley, President, Paramount Advertising, and to me.
Lee’s division, Paramount Advertising International, is fully aligned with the US structure and strategy, and will now cover our international free-to-air portfolio, which includes Channel 5 in the UK, Network 10 in Australia, Telefe in Argentina and Chilevisión in Chile. Our commercial leaders, Rod Prosser in Australia and Eduardo Lebrija in Latin America, will both report to Lee, and he will oversee our advertising relationship with our partners at Sky Media in the UK. In close partnership with our US sales team, Lee’s expanded group will continue to drive advertising sales monetization and strategy for our direct-to-consumer streaming business and our linear Pay TV portfolio outside the US and UK, including linear sales, sponsorship and brand solutions, social and digital, and live events, in collaboration with our leaders across all lines of business.
Lee is a well-respected leader, with deep industry relationships with some of the top CMOs and Paramount’s key clients. His knowledge and expertise continue to drive growth for our advanced advertising capabilities, audience insights, creative marketing and scale across all platforms. Lee’s focus and commitment to our business has already had a powerful impact on our globally aligned sales division, with the recent global roll-out of EyeQ, bringing one of the biggest premium video advertising platforms in digital media to regional and multinational marketers worldwide.
Working in close partnership with John Halley and our global leaders, I am confident Lee’s leadership will further unlock the power of One Paramount by positioning Paramount as an advertising powerhouse, a trusted partner and a must-buy for advertisers and marketers around the world.
Please join me in congratulating Lee.
Best,
Pam
