Paramount’s Kevin MacLellan Exiting Skydance After Merger

Kevin MacLellan, President of International and Global Content Distribution at the pre-merger Paramount, is leaving Skydance.

The news comes soon after Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) exec David Decker was named President, Content Sales at Skydance, with Jay Askinasi becoming Chief Revenue Officer, Advertising and Ray Hopkins appointed President, Distribution.

MacLellan had been with Paramount since August 2025, reporting directly in CEO David Ellison, when he returned to the TV industry after a spell in real estate, construction and managing residential properties in North Carolina, and was tasked with leading on global distribution of programs and channels.

We understand the former NBCUniversal international boss is now exiting after Paramount completed its $110B acquisition of WBD two days ago. He is known to have advised RedBird Capital Partners on its investment in Paramount, and has held executive roles at Sony Pictures and HBO.

MacLellan’s direct counterpart at WBD, Gerhard Zeiler, is also set to leave the business, having expressed a desire to run for office of a major Austrian political party. That appeared to leave MacLellan in a good position, but with Skydance deciding to restructure its international business more significantly, that didn’t play out.

Decker is report to J.B. Perrette, who was earlier in the week named Co-Chair & Chief Business Officer, Skydance TV and Skydance DTC. We understand Perrette’s post will see him taking a significant role in international strategy. MacLellan’s duties at Paramount had stretched beyond content sales and he had direct operational oversight of UK terrestrial network 5 and Australia’s Network Ten, along with international distribution of channels such as MTV, Comedy Central and Nickelodeon.

The news has come just days before the start of MIPCOM Cannes, where both Warner and Paramount execs will be on the ground shopping their latest wares. Decker will oversee both TV libraries as Skydance’s content sales chief.