Skydance has reorganized the leadership of the group responsible for getting its television and streaming services in front of audiences, assigning Sarah Bergman and Mickey Carter to shared executive vice president roles in distribution while eight executives from Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery depart.

The changes follow the combination of Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery, which closed on Oct. 6. Ray Hopkins, Skydance’s president of distribution, communicated the new structure in a Nov. 3 internal memo. The moves place a single leadership framework over a particularly broad mix of traditional television, subscription streaming, free streaming, local-station and device-platform relationships.

For viewers, an executive reshuffle does not itself mean a service is disappearing, a channel is changing, or a show has moved. But distribution is the unit that works on the agreements enabling those services and channels to reach audiences. It is therefore an important part of how a combined media company manages access to its programming, relationships with partners and the commercial terms surrounding its platforms.

Bergman and Carter will jointly lead distribution

Bergman, most recently Warner Bros. Discovery’s executive vice president of networks and streaming distribution and an HBO veteran, will share the EVP of distribution title with Carter, formerly Paramount’s EVP of distribution. The pair will divide responsibility for negotiating distribution agreements and managing partnerships.

That pairing combines senior leaders from each side of the new company. In practical terms, their remit spans both linear and streaming businesses. Linear television generally means scheduled, live channel feeds carried through a conventional TV package, rather than programming selected on demand. Streaming distribution, meanwhile, includes the commercial and operational relationships that allow apps and services to be offered through streaming and connected-device partners.

Skydance’s distribution operation handles agreements tied to CBS owned-and-operated stations, 55 basic cable networks, Paramount+, HBO Max, Discovery+, Pluto TV and more than 100 FAST channels. FAST stands for free ad-supported streaming television: streaming channels offered to viewers without a subscription charge and supported by advertising. The company’s portfolio consequently covers several distinct ways audiences watch video, from local broadcast stations and paid cable to subscription apps and free streaming channels.

The scale matters because each business has different counterparties and commercial considerations. A local CBS affiliate relationship is not the same kind of arrangement as placement for a streaming app on a device platform, and neither is identical to distributing a free, ad-supported channel. The revised structure is designed to centralize leadership while retaining designated executives for finance, legal work, station relationships, operations and marketing.

The departing executives

Eight executives are leaving Skydance as part of the restructuring:

  • Rivka Golomb, previously Warner Bros. Discovery’s head of distribution strategy and finance.
  • Kelly Kane, previously WBD senior vice president of partner marketing.
  • Jeff Cross, previously WBD executive vice president of legal, distribution and commercial partnerships.
  • Rich Palermo, previously WBD EVP of network and streaming distribution.
  • David Comisar, previously CBS senior vice president of affiliate distribution.
  • Kurt Davis, previously EVP of CBS affiliate relations.
  • Deena Demasi, previously Paramount EVP of marketing, distribution and business development.
  • Ken Kay, previously Showtime EVP of distribution and affiliate marketing.

Cross will leave the company but remain a senior adviser to the distribution business. Separately, Scott Miller, previously WBD’s president of networks and streaming distribution, exited after Hopkins’ appointment.

Leadership reductions and reassignments are a familiar consequence when two companies combine operations with overlapping duties. Here, the overlap is especially visible: both legacy organizations brought large distribution organizations into the new company, each with expertise across networks, affiliate relationships, streaming partners, commercial negotiations, finance, marketing and legal matters. The announced chart reduces that overlap by placing the combined portfolio under Hopkins, Bergman and Carter, with clearer role assignments below them.

Who will handle the major parts of the business

Several appointments show how Skydance plans to divide the practical work of distribution. Brad Shipley, EVP of business development and strategy, will oversee strategy, new-growth partnerships, Pluto TV and FAST distribution, advanced advertising partnerships, business planning and analytics. Shipley will also be the distribution lead for Skydance Global Sports Group.

Placing Pluto TV and FAST distribution within Shipley’s responsibilities identifies free, advertising-supported streaming as a specific strategic focus inside the combined distribution organization. Unlike a subscription service, a FAST business depends on both audience access and advertising relationships. The reference to advanced advertising partnerships underscores that the job is not limited to deciding where a channel appears; it also encompasses the commercial systems and partner relationships connected with advertising.

Patrick Cavanaugh, EVP and CFO of distribution finance, will lead the economics of all linear and streaming negotiations. “Economics” in this context means the financial structure of talks across the company’s distribution deals. That is a central role when one organization must evaluate agreements covering channels, stations and multiple varieties of streaming service.

Rick Baker, EVP and deputy general counsel for distribution, business and legal affairs, will oversee business and legal affairs across the linear and streaming operation. Distribution agreements have both commercial and legal dimensions: the business teams establish the partnership and financial goals, while legal leadership handles the contractual framework. Baker’s remit puts those responsibilities across both established TV distribution and streaming under one executive.

Joe Bahr, SVP of partner operations, will manage operational matters across partners. This is the part of a distribution organization focused on making partnerships work in practice after or alongside negotiations, rather than simply reaching the agreement. Andrew Borak, SVP of marketing, will lead the combined distribution marketing function, bringing together work previously conducted within separate company structures.

CBS affiliate relations retain dedicated leadership

Local broadcast remains a named part of the plan. Bob Aguanno, SVP of CBS affiliate relations, will oversee relationships with roughly 200 CBS affiliate television stations and work with the CBS Network affiliate board. John Bagwell, SVP and associate general counsel, will negotiate contracts with station groups and the CBS Network affiliate board.

An affiliate is a local television station that carries programming from a network. The source material distinguishes CBS owned-and-operated stations from CBS affiliates, which is significant because the corporate relationship is different. Owned-and-operated stations are directly owned by the network’s parent company, while affiliates are local partners. Skydance has assigned specialized executive and legal responsibility to those affiliate relationships even as it merges the broader distribution organization.

That is a reminder that a media combination of this size is not simply about arranging a set of apps under one corporate roof. Its distribution work involves local station groups, cable and pay-TV operators, streaming partners, connected-device platforms and free streaming channels. The challenge is to create a combined negotiating and partnership-management structure without treating each of those relationships as interchangeable.

What the reorganization signals—and what it does not

The confirmed change is organizational: Skydance has set out named leaders and functional responsibilities for its distribution unit. It also has stated a target of $6 billion in annualized cost savings from the Paramount-WBD combination. Mass layoffs are expected before the end of the year, and certain eligible employees have been offered voluntary buyouts in a companywide memo dated Oct. 26 from David Ellison and co-CEO Ynon Kreiz.

It is reasonable to view the distribution overhaul in the context of that cost-savings target, since the new chart consolidates senior roles previously spread across Paramount and WBD. However, the listed personnel decisions do not establish any specific future change to a subscriber’s plan, channel lineup, service pricing, programming slate or device availability. Those outcomes should not be inferred from an internal leadership announcement alone.

Instead, the immediate operational significance is that the company has established accountable leaders for the negotiations and relationships surrounding its many outlets. Bergman and Carter will sit at the center of that work; Cavanaugh will handle deal economics; Baker will oversee the business-and-legal function; Shipley will lead strategy and growth-oriented partnership responsibilities; and Aguanno and Bagwell will manage the CBS affiliate side.

Hopkins reports to JB Perrette, who is co-chair and chief business officer of Skydance TV and Skydance Direct-to-Consumer. That reporting line connects distribution to divisions centered on television and direct-to-consumer services—the latter a term commonly used for video products sold directly to viewers rather than solely through a conventional television intermediary.

Why distribution is central to a combined entertainment company

A merged company can own programming, channels and streaming brands, but ownership alone does not resolve how all of those products are carried, promoted and commercially supported across outside partners. Distribution is where those marketplace connections are maintained and negotiated. For Skydance, the remit now includes legacy broadcast and cable properties alongside Paramount+, HBO Max, Discovery+, Pluto TV and a substantial FAST-channel footprint.

That broad mix also explains why the leadership memo separates strategy, finance, legal affairs, operations, marketing and affiliate relations instead of placing every responsibility in one role. A negotiation needs a commercial case, financial analysis and legal terms. A partnership also needs operational follow-through and, often, marketing support. The reorganization assigns an executive owner to each of those functions while bringing the total portfolio under a shared distribution leadership team.

The entertainment portfolio itself remains a major point of interest for audiences following the corporate combination. For example, streaming services continue to build new scripted pipelines, as seen in the planned debut of Netflix’s Trinity. Skydance’s new team, however, is focused on the business infrastructure through which its own range of linear and streaming products is made available and supported.

For now, the key takeaway is a consolidation of authority after the Oct. 6 transaction: Bergman and Carter will jointly lead distribution, a new slate of executives will manage the individual disciplines beneath them, and eight former Paramount and WBD leaders are departing as Skydance works toward its stated savings objectives.