Last week the New York Post reported that CBS’s parent company Paramount is looking at selling its iconic West 57th Street studio and headquarters in New York City to help cut costs. Now according to the New York Post, they have received a copy of an internal memo that confirms that CBS is looking to sell its New York City headquarters and studios.
CBS is looking to sell its main studio that it has had since the 1950s. The plan is to sell the expensive location and look for a cheaper, smaller location for its studios to help cut costs.
Recently CBS has moved many of its productions to other cheaper locations. Meaning they likely no longer need the 600,000-square-foot broadcast center. The center is also in an area that can be sold for a huge profit. This will likely help Paramount get some much-needed cash as it shifts its focus to streaming.
Recently CBS Entertainment President and CEO George Cheeks said in a statement that “it is true that the company has retained a real estate consultant to evaluate selling the BC and to identify a new home for our teams there.” Though he warned that this would be a slow process and nothing is likely to happen quickly.
CBS is not alone in selling its headquarters. Recently Warner Bros. Discovery announced that CNN would be moving out of its iconic Atlanta headquarters to a cheaper location in the area. This helped them cut costs by reducing rents. Now it seems that CBS wants to do the same.
For now, these plans are not set in stone as Paramount is only now reportedly sending out requests for proposals to sell the building and find a new location. Depending on what offers they get will ultimately decide if Paramount follows through on their plans.
Recently Paramount has been looking for ways to raise money. Private equity firm BDT & MSD Capital Partners invested $125 million in National Amusements Inc., the controlling shareholder of Paramount Global, to help the company through a rough patch in the stock market. Paramount’s shares have dropped 12 percent year-to-date.
The money will go towards cutting interest expenses and paying off debts while Paramount waits for more audiences to return to theaters, its main source of revenue. The company will also sell some of its assets in an attempt to raise capital for its television division.
With the drop in advertising and the growth of cord cutting reducing revenues from cable companies, many networks are looking for ways to cut costs or raise cash. For CBS, this may mean moving to a new cheaper location.