Paramount Global’s streaming division is promoting two executives to new roles at Paramount+ and Pluto TV.
The changes include Jeff Grossman, who will serve as the new executive vice president of programming for Paramount+, and Amy Kuessner, who will take on the same position at Pluto TV.
Grossman’s previous role was executive vice president of content and business operations at Paramount Streaming. He will oversee the global content strategy for Paramount+. Grossman has been with the company for 15 years, starting as one of the essential team members behind Paramount+.
Kuessner was the former executive vice president of content strategy and global partnerships for Paramount Streaming, signing the company’s first free ad-supported deals with the NFL, CNN, Scripps, BBC, and AMC Networks. She will head content strategy, curation of free ad-supported channels, and content licensing for Pluto TV.
Grossman and Kuessner’s management roles expanded following the departure of the Paramount+’s chief programming officer, Tanya Giles, in March after nearly three decades with the company. The move came after Paramount consolidated Showtime with its Paramount+ streaming service. Her role has remained vacant since, and her responsibilities split between Grossman and Kuessner. The move comes as Paramount announced staff changes this year, most recently Chief Product Officer Rob Gelick, who left in October.
Paramount Global said the changes in leadership “will enable the division to better leverage, customize, and showcase content across its streaming ecosystem so that both brands can continue to scale quickly in their categories and build on their success,” according to Variety.
The new executives will report to Tom Ryan, the chief executive officer of Paramount Streaming and co-founder of Pluto TV.Paramount acquired Pluto TV for $340 million in 2019 and has created 156 unique free channels, according to Indie Wire, whereas Paramount has 129. The platform is one of the most popular free streaming services and is available on most smart TVs and mobile devices.