Programming executives Sarah Babineau and Keith Cox have been promoted to new roles within ViacomCBS’ Entertainment & Youth Group.
Babineau has been upped to head of Comedy Central Content and Creative Enterprises, overseeing all development for the cable channel and its expanding roster of podcasts, games and other endeavors. Cox has been named president of Entertainment & Youth Studios, in addition to his role as president of originals for Paramount Network.
Both executives have become key lieutenants to Chris McCarthy, president of the newly created division that houses MTV, VH1, Comedy Central, Paramount Network, TV Land, CMT, Pop TV, Smithsonian Channel and Logo. The promotions of Babineau and Cox come as ViacomCBS is fine-tuning its senior management team following the merger of Viacom and CBS Corp. in December
“Looking ahead, we are building a leadership team that maximizes our full potential,” McCarthy wrote in a memo to staffers. “At the same time, we are providing specialized leadership at the brand level where there are opportunities to super-serve unique communities and at the new business level to expedite our growth in streaming and studio sales.”
Babineau was previously co-head of development at Comedy Central with Jonas Larson, who has left the cabler after a 10-year run. Babineau, who joined Comedy Central from Amazon in 2014, has been a key creative shepherd of the channel’s buzziest shows, notably “The Daily Show With Trevor Noah,” “Inside Amy Schumer,” “Broad City” and the upcoming “Awkwafina is Nora From Queens.”
Cox’s new charter will have him overseeing development for a growing portfolio of production banners under the ViacomCBS umbrella, including MTV Studios, Smithsonian Channel Studios, CMT Studios and Pop Studios. The content production push is part of ViacomCBS CEO Bob Bakish’s “arms dealer” strategy to grow revenue through content licensing to outside buyers as well as to feed internal platforms.
Cox has been with Viacom since 2006, starting out at TV Land where he spearheaded the channel’s move into original sitcoms with “Hot in Cleveland.” Most recently he’s steered the programming effort for the relaunch of Paramount Network in January 2018.
(Correction: This post has been updated to correct the misspelling of Babineau’s surname)