Paramount’s Maria Kyriacou to exit amid shift away from international content

Maria Kyriacou

Paramount’s Maria Kyriacou is stepping down from the company after four years in the role, as the US studio shifts its strategy towards US content rather than international fare.

Kyriacou was most recently president of broadcast & studios at Paramount Global’s international markets unit and is not to be replaced, with CBS Studios chief David Stapf on her remit at Paramount TV International Studios.

Paramount’s regional chiefs will retain oversight of the company’s networks, with the rejig coming a day after CEO Bob Bakish revealed a focus on Hollywood series under the ‘One Paramount’ tagline.

The move will result in hundreds of layoffs as the studio attempts to make streaming pay and as rumours circle over its future.

The One Paramount strategy will see fewer local originals form outside of the US, Bakish said, as the company looks to “continue to reduce our workforce globally.”

The studio has already closed its unscripted production division in the UK, with scripted latterly taking centre stage.

In a memo detailing Kyriacou’s exit, Paramount’s international chief Pam Kaufman and CBS president & CEO George Cheeks said the content strategy would “be focusing more heavily on our Hollywood franchises, films and series, which have mass global appeal.”

Kyriacou, who will formally stop working with the Paramount team in March, joined the studio from ITV Studios in 2019, overseeing all operations in the UK, Australia, Canada and Israel.

She latterly took on responsibility for Paramount’s international studio operations and its regional networks, including Channel 5 in the UK, Australia’s Network 10, Chilevisión and Telefe in Argentina.

Prior to ITVS, Kyriacou had been SVP of digital media distribution for EMEA at Disney.

Cheeks and Kaufman pointed to shows including Uno Para Morir (aka Death’s Roulette) and The Burning Girls during her tenure, adding she had “mastered the art of delivering high-quality, authentic local stories to our platforms in markets around the world.”