Two key leaders at CBS continue, with Amy Lazenbach and David Staff signing a new three-year contract with the company.
By signing, Reisenbach will serve as president of CBS Entertainment, and STAPF will continue to lead CBS Studios. Reisenbach has been head of CBS Entertainment since November 2022 and first started with CBS in 2005, but STAPF has led CBS studios for 26 years.
Both STAPF and Reisenbach continue to report to George Cheeks, chairman of Paramount’s television media, which oversees all CBS departments and cable networks. According to individuals with knowledge of the situation, both executives reinstalled the contract before the SkyDance-Paramount merger ended.
The new contract is a sign of CBS’ stability, and many other departments within Paramount have been subject to multiple recent layoffs. The new Skydance Leadership Regime is expected to announce another 2,000-3,000 layoffs by early November.
As Variety reported earlier, Paramount Insiders hoped that, given the continued success of the department under Reisenbach and STAPF, Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison would take a “don’t fix anything that’s not broken” approach to CBS.
CBS continues to employ some of the most notable script series on all of TV, including “Tracker,” “Fire Country,” “NCIS,” “Matt Rock,” “FBI,” “Ghost,” and “Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage.” Meanwhile, STAPF continues to enjoy a strong reputation in the creative community as CBS Studios produces the majority of CBS broadcast slates. CBS Studios will also serve as the home of Paramount+’s “Star Trek” universe, a series produced since 2017, and “Prairie on the Prairie on the Prairie on the Prairie” in work on Netflix and comedy series “Murderbot.”
The deadline was first to report the renewal of the contract.
