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Gianopulos, 65, replaces Brad Grey, who stepped down as chief
executive officer and chairman of Paramount last month, after 12
years in the job.
He takes over Paramount as the studio and its parent company
work to turn around their businesses after years of
underperformance, producing box office bombs such as "Teenage
Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows" and "Ben-Hur."
Gianopulos, who will report directly to Viacom Chief Executive
Officer Bob Bakish, will be in charge of charting a new strategy
for Paramount which includes developing new content and
expanding the studio globally.
Bakish, who became Viacom CEO late last year, is making
Paramount a major part of his strategy to turn around the New
York-based media conglomerate's declining ad revenue and
ratings.
Under his strategy, Viacom will focus on six of its brands:
Paramount and the networks BET, Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon
and Nick Jr. Each will start making films with Paramount.
Paramount was at the center of a power struggle between Viacom
controlling shareholder Sumner Redstone and his daughter Shari
against Philippe Dauman, the media company's former CEO.
The battle was prompted by Dauman's proposal last year to sell a
stake in Paramount against Redstone's wishes. After a tense
stand-off, Dauman resigned in August.
In January, Paramount announced a deal with two Chinese film
companies, Shanghai Film Group and Huahua Media, to invest $1
billion in Paramount, giving the studio much-needed cash and
support as it attempts to grow.
In addition, Viacom is rebranding its Spike TV network as the
"Paramount Network" in 2018.
(Reporting by Jessica Toonkel in New York; Additional reporting
by Aishwarya Venugopal in Bengaluru; Editing by Sai Sachin
Ravikumar and Lisa Shumaker)
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