How Paramount Became a Cautionary Tale of the Streaming Wars

Redstone died in 2020. Unfortunately for his heirs, the foundation on which he built his world—movies and cable TV—is crumbling. The number of people who pay for live-TV service has dropped about 30 million from its peak of more than 100 million starting in 2010; meanwhile, domestic moviegoing has plummeted to all-time lows. Redstone’s TV networks have been hit especially hard because their primary audience, viewers under the age of 34, have all but abandoned cable for Netflix, TikTok and YouTube. The company, now known as Paramount Global, has tried to offset the damage by cutting costs. But the lack of investment has only accelerated the loss of viewers and advertisers. Paramount’s TV ad sales are projected to have fallen $1 billion last year.