Showtime's Research Executive, Kim Lemon, to depart from the company

Paramount’s Executive Vice President of Data Strategy, Research, Scheduling and Programming, Kim Lemon, confirmed plans to exit Showtime following a 34-year tenure to pursue new endeavors. “Throughout his tenure, Kim has played an integral role in Showtime’s evolution from a linear network to a bonafide streaming service, establishing a first-in-class data science group,” Showtime, MTV Entertainment Studios and Paramount Media Networks president and CEO Chris McCarthy said in a memo to employees. “He is a pioneer in brand strategy, always prioritizing our content and being mindful of how it would inform our growth while showing great reverence for the creative process and our audience’s feedback.”

Upon exiting the position, his former duties will be assumed by MTV Entertainment Studios and Paramount Media Networks’ Laurel Weirin an expanded role. Reporting to McCarthy on the programming and strategy side and Paramount executive vice president and chief research officer Colleen Fahey Rush on the research side, her purview will now include Showtime.“In addition to leading the charge in fueling our linear-streaming ecosystem, maximizing our traditional business and consistently growing market share, her collaboration with our partners at Paramount+ and Pluto TV to accelerate streaming via our hit franchises has yielded record-breaking results across the portfolio.” McCarthy added. “Laurel has also established research collaborations with partners like Duke University and USC Annenberg School, delivering groundbreaking insights that have enabled us to build coalitions and create mission-driven movements in mental health and youth voter access.  She’s a team first leader whose passion for our content is infectious.”

Lemon will remain with the company in the meanttime to assist Weir with the transition. Weirserves executive vice president and Head of programming and strategic insights & research for MTV Entertainment Studios and Paramount Media Networks. Weir will continue to dual report to McCarthy, for programming and strategy, and Fahey Rush, for research. News of the modifications comes one day after Paramount Global revealed it will launch the newly integrated Paramount+ With Showtime service in the U.S. on 27 June, establishing it as the company’s top-tier streaming product without commercials. By the end of the year, Paramount intends to sunset the Showtime app and rebrand the linear premium pay-TV channel to “deliver a distinguished premium service with hit originals across linear and streaming – the first to truly integrate streaming and linear content this way.”

“Throughout his tenure, Kim has played an integral role in Showtime’s evolution from a linear network to a bonafide streaming service, establishing a first-in-class data science group,” wrote Showtime/MTV Entertainment Studios and Paramount Media Networks president Chris McCarthy and Paramount’s Executive Vice President and Chief Research Officer Colleen Fahey Rush in a memo to staff. “He is a pioneer in brand strategy, always prioritizing our content and being mindful of how it would inform our growth while showing great reverence for the creative process and our audience’s feedback.”