Paramount Global President Maria Kyriacou departing

Maria Kyriacou, Paramount’s president of broadcast and studios for international markets, is exiting the company.

Kyriacou joined Paramount in 2020 as president of international to oversee the U.K., Australia, Canada and Israel.

Kyriacou (pictured second from right) has visited Paramount / Network 10 operations several times and is considered a close supporter of local Australian managem2nt. She most recently attended the launch of NCIS: Sydney in November.

“We are sharpening our international content strategy to focus more heavily on our Hollywood franchises, films and series, which have mass global appeal, are in high demand with our partners and perform strongest with audiences worldwide,” Pam Kaufman, president and CEO of international markets, global consumer products and experiences, and George Cheeks, president and CEO of CBS and chief content officer for news and sports at Paramount+, said in a memo to staff. “As we focus on maximizing our content investment, we will produce fewer international originals, apart from our leading free-to-air networks in the U.K., Australia, Argentina and Chile, which will continue to have a strong pipeline of local content.”

The memo continued, “We recognize that Maria’s departure, as president of our international broadcast and studios business, will mean redefining how we work together as ‘One Paramount’ across these lines of business.”

The move comes as Paramount scales down its international originals offerings to focus more on originals from the U.S. market.

After her departure, Paramount Television International Studios will be overseen by president of CBS Studios David Stapf, who will continue to report to Cheeks. Free-to-air networks such as Channel 5, Network 10, Chilevisión and Telefe will continue to be led by local leadership in their respective territories.

Her last day in office was January 26, though she will continue to work with Paramount through to the end of March.

Source: WorldScreen, The Wrap