BET Networks is no longer being shopped to third-party buyers, the new leadership regime at Paramount Skydance confirmed Wednesday as top executives gathered for a wide-ranging Q&A with journalists.

David Ellison, CEO of the studio that he acquired last week, told reporters that BET and its content franchises would be a key part of the new regime’s streaming strategy. Ellison said the plan is to operate the company with its assets intact — that’s in contrast to the string of assets sales that Paramount Global and its predecessors have done in recent years. BET in particular had been shopped to a number of prospective buyers in private equity and prominent Black investors and stars including Tyler Perry.

Ellison said the concept of keeping Paramount Pictures, CBS and other assets together was a key point of his earliest discussions last year about buying the studio with former Paramount Global chair and majority shareholder Shari Redstone.

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“We had this conversation with Shari when we had the first meeting, actually about the company. It is our intention is to keep the company together and invest in that lens,” Ellison said.

“We’re thinking about the cable network is not as declining linear assets that we need to spin them up or deal with somehow. We’re thinking about those brands that we have to redefine,” Ellison said. “Nickelodeon is also one of those. Fids and family is so important to the world and making sure that we’re doing the right thing for Nick and that whole cadre of content is critically important to us as well.”

Overall, Ellison and his top lieutenants sketched out a roadmap for the new Paramount Skydance taeam’s priorities that include increased investment in Paramount Pictures studio, CBS and the Paramount+ streaming platform. Ellison and Paramount president Jeff Shell reiterated that the plan is to consolidate the company’s major streaming assets — Paramount+ and free ad-supported platform Pluto TV — into one central service to save operating costs and to make Pluto TV a better driver of subscriptions for Paramount+.

Joining Ellison and Shell at the session were Andy Gordon, Chief Strategy Officer and Chief Operating Officer; George Cheeks, Chair of TV Media; Dana Goldberg, Co-Chair of Paramount Pictures and Chair of Paramount Television; Josh Greenstein, Co-Chair of Paramount Pictures and Vice Chair of Platforms; and Cindy Holland, Chair of Direct-to-Consumer.

Asked point blank if the programming budget for Paramount+ will increase to make the service competitive with larger rivals such as Disney+ and HBO Max, Ellison said yes. Cindy Holland, the Netflix alum who is leading streaming operations for the new Paramount, was also blunt when asked if she intends to commission made-for-streaming movies from the sibling studio. “Made for streaming movies are not a priority for me,” she said.

Gerry Cardinale, head of RedBird Capital which also had a big role in financing the $8 billion transaction, offered an expansive view of a team ready to spend what it takes to upgrade Paramount’s aging infrastructure. Cardinale complimented Ellison for being a savvy business executive in addition to having the creative ambition to own a movie studio, Big Three broadcast network and more.

“I’m betting my firm in my career on this deal. That should tell you guys one thing: We are coming, we are going to invest, and we’re going to be really sophisticated. This is not other people’s money,” Cardinale said. He even suggested that the Paramount Skydance ethos would not only change the corporate culture at Paramount and CBS but influence the broader industry.

The new regime is thinking about “how do we build the culture, not just for Paramount but for Hollywood,” Cardinale said. “I could not be more excited. Yes we are going to be investing a lot of money, and we’re going to show the great return on that investment.”

More to come