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Buyers are looking to discuss several upfront priorities with Paramount, but mergers aren’t what’s “top of mind,” according to ad sales chief John Halley.
Last week, CEO Bob Bakish exited Paramount amid ongoing merger talks with Skydance Media. Meanwhile, Sony and Apollo also reportedly made a $26 billion cash offer to buy the company. However, despite all that noise, Halley, president of Paramount Advertising, recently told ADWEEK that those developments aren’t affecting buyer negotiations.
“Coming in Monday, I wasn’t sure—candidly—whether it was going to be a foreground or background topic, and it became very clear very early that it’s a background topic,” Halley said. “We do have an amazing story to tell. And that’s what our partners and clients want to hear from us.”
According to Halley, advertisers are more concerned with achieving their business goals, and Paramount’s content and team remain the same.
“The team that they work with is unchanged, and the assets that they’re investing in are unchanged,” Halley said. “That’s what these conversations are about. For us, it was on-topic and refreshingly so.”
Paramount certainly has several topics to keep buyers occupied. The company is in its second year of upfront dinners after exiting its Carnegie Hall upfront week event, and it’s not looking back. Halley spoke with ADWEEK about bringing more transparency to Paramount’s ad products, giving advertisers integrations and sponsorships around fandom with outcomes-based goals and why upfront week is “anachronistic.”
ADWEEK: John, after Paramount exited upfront week last year, you told me you were never going back. You’re obviously in the middle of upfront dinners again, but does that still stand?
John Halley: How many times did I say never? Now, we’re never ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever going back. No, listen: Last year, we had unanimous feedback that it was a better format. We changed the format because the business is becoming more complicated. You can’t have one-way linear discussions. You need to spend more time with your partners on the other side. You need to not just show them content, but talk about how you’re helping them achieve their goals and expansions in the advertising product suite. The conversations are becoming more detailed and in-depth, and the format needed to change.