Robert Marc Bakish ( ; born December 14, 1963) is an American business executive. He was most recently the president and CEO of Paramount Global upon its formation on December 4, 2019 until his resignation on April 29, 2024 amid poor stock market performances and a possible Paramount major merger.
Early life and education A native of New Jersey, Bakish attended Dwight-Englewood School in Englewood, New Jersey, graduating in 1981.
He received a Bachelor of Science in operations research in 1985 from Columbia University's School of Engineering and Applied Science."Robert Marc Bakish". Columbia Business School. Retrieved September 12, 2018. He earned an MBA from Columbia Business School in 1989.
After receiving his MBA, Bakish joined the management and technology consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton in 1990, and rose to become a partner in its media and entertainment practice.
Career at Paramount Early positions In February 1997, Bakish joined Viacom. Initially as vice president of planning and development, he became senior vice president of planning, development and technology in January the following year.
In October 1999, he became the executive vice president of planning and business development of Viacom's subsidiary MTV Networks. From 2001 to 2004, he was executive vice president and chief operating officer of advertising sales at MTV Networks.
In 2004, he was appointed executive vice president of operations of Viacom, Inc., and in 2006, he was also appointed executive vice president of Viacom Enterprises. In these two positions, he was responsible for Viacom's strategic planning and business development and the oversight of a range of business units including Famous Music, Famous Players, Viacom Plus sales and information services and technology, as well as heading Viacom's cross-divisional marketing council.
Head of international operations at Viacom In January 2007, Bakish became the president of MTV Networks International (MTVNI) responsible for financial and management, overseeing MTV Networks operations outside the U.S. He immediately restructured MTVNI by cutting 8% of the workforce, merging some overseas units with the UK business and devolving responsibilities for Latin American operations to new offices across the region. He launched the Colors franchise of networks through the Viacom18 joint venture in India. Laghate, Gaurav. "The big picture is that you can do business here: Robert M Bakish". Rediff. March 29, 2013. "It was a go big or go home play: Bob Bakish recalls Viacom18's early days". Adgully. November 21, 2017.
When MTVNI CEO Bill Roedy resigned in January 2011, Bakish was promoted to the newly created position of president and CEO of Viacom International Media Networks (VIMN).Guider, Elizabeth. "Bill Roedy steps down as CEO of MTV Int'l". The Hollywood Reporter. September 23, 2010."Bill Roedy to leave MTV". Variety. September 22, 2010.Dauman, Philippe. "Bill Roedy leaves Viacom". BillRoedy.com. January 2011.Szalai, Georg. "Viacom Promotes Robert Bakish to CEO of All International Networks". The Hollywood Reporter. January 19, 2011."Robert Bakish Named President & CEO of Viacom International Media Networks". Deadline Hollywood. January 19, 2011. This promotion included responsibility for all Viacom media networks and operations internationally, including MTV, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, BET, VH1, VIVA, TMF, Game One and MTV Tres;"Abu Dhabi Media Summit 2012 Speakers". Screen Daily. October 8, 2012. he also oversighted all of Viacom's international television-related joint ventures, including Viacom18 in India and ViacomSBS in Korea, as well as channel ventures with BSkyB in the UK and Foxtel in Australia."Robert Bakish". FT Live. Retrieved September 13, 2018. In all, VIMN operations at the time of his appointment consisted of 145 television channels in 160 countries and territories, plus related digital properties and consumer products businesses. During his tenure, Bakish expanded Viacom's international footprint, and VIMN was Viacom's most successful division; revenue doubled, and VIMN grew to more than 200 television channels.Maglio, Tony. "Viacom Names Robert Bakish Acting President, CEO". The Wrap. October 31, 2016. Under his leadership, the Paramount Channel was launched, offering movies and television shows in Europe, Latin America and Russia. He oversaw the expansion of networks such as Nickelodeon, Comedy Central and Spike TV to an increasing number of foreign markets, and helped orchestrate the acquisition of Channel 5 in the UK and Telefe in Argentina. He also oversaw the launch of apps, including the Viacom Play Plex suite of branded mobile TV apps and the BET Play direct-to-consumer subscription video-on-demand app for an adult audience.Szalai, Georg. "Viacom to Name Bob Bakish Interim CEO". The Hollywood Reporter. October 27, 2016."Viacom unveils Play Plex mobile TV apps". DigitalTVEurope. September 8, 2015.Szalai, Georg. "Viacom International Launches Direct-to-Consumer SVOD App BET Play". The Hollywood Reporter. June 22, 2016.
CEO In October 2016, Viacom named Bakish as acting president and CEO of Viacom effective November 15, to replace interim CEO Tom Dooley.James, Meg. "Viacom names Robert Bakish as acting CEO". Los Angeles Times. October 31, 2016.Badkar, Mamta. "Viacom taps Bob Bakish for CEO". Financial Times. October 31, 2016. He was also appointed president and CEO of the newly created Viacom Global Entertainment Group, which combined Viacom International Media Networks (VIMN) with Viacom's Music and Entertainment group, which includes MTV, Comedy Central, VH1, Spike TV and Logo TV; two additional networks, TV Land and CMT, also joined the Global Entertainment Group. Optimistic that Bakish could make good on his plans to turn Viacom's core U.S. cable networks and its Paramount Pictures film studio around, the board of directors of Viacom Inc. made Bakish's appointment as president and CEO permanent on December 12, 2016.Szalai, Georg. "Viacom Names Bob Bakish Permanent CEO". The Hollywood Reporter. December 12, 2016.Bloomberg News. "Viacom's new CEO pursues turnaround with CBS out of the picture". Crain's New York Business. December 12, 2016.Steinberg, Brian. "At Viacom, Bob Bakish Enjoys Swift Rise". Variety. December 12, 2016.
In early 2017, Bakish revealed a five-point plan to return Viacom to producing a steady profit. This consisted of focusing on Viacom's six flagship brands: BET, Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon, Nick Jr. and Paramount; revitalizing content and talent; deepening distributor and advertiser partnerships to drive traditional revenue; increasing digital offerings, consumer products and live experiences; and optimizing and energizing the organization.Maglio, Tony. "Here's Viacom's New 5-Point Strategic Plan: 6 Brands, ‘Deeper Integration of Paramount’". The Wrap. February 9, 2017.Szalai, Georg. "Viacom Unveils Focus on Flagship Brands, 'Deeper Integration' of Paramount Pictures". The Hollywood Reporter. February 9, 2017.Lieberman, David. "Viacom CEO Vows To Make Company More Focused And Forward-Looking". Deadline Hollywood. February 9, 2017.Littleton, Cynthia. "Viacom Sets Radical Revamp of Cable Operations, Adapting to Skinny-Bundle Era". Variety. February 9, 2017. Duberstein, Billy. "How CEO Bob Bakish Plans to Make Viacom Great Again". Motley Fool. March 21, 2017. Hagey, Keach. "Viacom to Narrow Focus to Six Key Cable-TV Channels". Wall Street Journal. February 8, 2017. The strategy also included having Paramount Pictures develop films and franchises connected to Viacom television content; additionally, Spike TV would be rebranded as and converted to a broad-based general entertainment channel, the Paramount Network, in early 2018.Steinberg, Brian. "Viacom ‘Well Along’ in Process for New Leadership at Paramount". Variety. March 7, 2017.
By the fall of 2017 Bakish had restructured Viacom, replacing executives at nearly every company, including hiring Jim Gianopulos, formerly chairman and CEO of 20th Century Fox, as the new chairman and CEO of Paramount Pictures.Pressberg, Matt. "Viacom CEO Bob Bakish Says Non-Sports Bundles Are Future of Pay-TV". The Wrap. September 13, 2017.Bond, Paul; Szalai, Georg. "How Viacom Is Emerging From Its Reorganization". The Hollywood Reporter. October 30, 2017.
In 2018, Bakish's implementation of his five-point comprehensive strategy was credited with Viacom's much improved finances and improved company morale and focus.Littleton, Cynthia. "Viacom CEO Talks Paramount Turnaround, TV Production Growth But Stays Mum on CBS Talks". Variety. April 25, 2018.Cynthia Littleton. "Viacom One Year Later: What's Better and What Still Needs Work as Possible CBS Reunion Looms". Variety. February 6, 2018. In 2018, under Bakish's direction and in accordance with his plan to capture younger and digital markets, Viacom acquired digital platform WhoSay, internet video conference VidCon,Hills, Megan C. "Viacom Has Officially Acquired VidCon, A Global Online Video Convention Series". Forbes. February 8, 2018.Bloom, David. "Viacom Courts The Youth Vote With VidCon, WHOSAY". Forbes. June 20, 2018.Lopez, Ricardo. "Viacom Acquiring VidCon". Variety. February 5, 2018. and online television network AwesomenessTV.Spangler, Todd. "Viacom Acquires AwesomenessTV; CEO Jordan Levin to Depart". Variety. July 27, 2018. In early 2018, Bakish also announced plans to launch an official Viacom streaming service, which would support ads and include series and content from Viacom that had not been available on other streaming services.Vlessing, Etan. "Viacom to Launch Streaming Service Later This Year, CEO Says". The Hollywood Reporter. February 28, 2018.Seitz, Dan. "Viacom, Owner Of Comedy Central And Nickelodeon, Will Launch A Streaming Service This Fall". Uproxx. February 7, 2018.McDonald, Andrew. "Viacom plans direct-to-consumer streaming service". TBIVision. March 1, 2018.Steinberg, Brian. "Viacom Plots Launch of Streaming Service". Variety. February 28, 2018.Berman, Jeff. "Viacom CEO: Company's New Streaming Service to ‘Complement’ Existing OTT Services". Media & Entertainment Services Alliance. February 8, 2018. In April 2018, Viacom launched Viacom Digital Studios, which would create new original content hosted on sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Snapchat.Ellwanger, Steve. "Viacom Digital Studios Makes Digital Content NewFronts Debut". Beet.TV. May 1, 2018.Jarvey, Natalie. "Viacom Unveils Digital Studio With Series Slate, VidCon Expansion". The Hollywood Reporter. April 30, 2018.Patel, Sahil. "Big media is crashing the NewFronts". Digiday. April 30, 2018.Weprin, Alex. "Viacom Formally Introduces Viacom Digital Studios At NewFront". MediaPost. April 30, 2018.Chmielewski, Dawn C.; Hayes, Dade. "Viacom Digital Studios Unveils Digital Slate, Including Cooking in the Crib with Snooki". Deadline Hollywood. April 30, 2018. In addition, later that June, Bakish announced that Viacom would produce some new series exclusively for Netflix, beginning with Nickelodeon-related content.Toonkel, Jessica. "Left on Merger Sidelines, Viacom Strikes Netflix Deal". The Information. June 21, 2018.Nicolaou, Anna. "Viacom strikes Nickelodeon deal with Netflix". Financial Times. September 18, 2018.Chmielewski, Dawn C. "Nickelodeon To Produce Animated TV Show Pinky Malinky For Netflix". Deadline Hollywood. June 21, 2018.Amidi, Amid. "As Part Of Major Strategic Shift At Viacom, Nick's Pinky Malinky Will Debut On Netflix". Cartoon Brew. June 22, 2018.
In September 2018, due largely to his turnaround of Viacom, The Hollywood Reporter listed Bakish as number 20 in its The Hollywood Reporter 100: The Most Powerful People in Entertainment 2018."The Hollywood Reporter 100: The Most Powerful People in Entertainment 2018". The Hollywood Reporter. September 20, 2018.