Keith Cox Leaving Paramount After 20 Years, Poised To Join NBCUniversal

Another legacy Paramount TV executive is leaving in the wake of the Skydance merger. Company veteran Keith Cox, who has served as top programming executive for multiple brands, including TV Land, Paramount Network and Showtime/MTV Entertainment Studios, is departing after two decades. His last day is June 5.

Cox’s future plans have not been revealed but I hear he is negotiations to join his former boss, Chris McCarthy, at NBCUniversal where the former Former Paramount co-CEO has set up a deal. It is part of McCarthy reassembling a close-knit team of key auspices, which includes David Glasser and his 101 Studios, who moved to NBCU at the start of the year, MobLand EP Jez Butterworth, who recently signed a five-tear pact with Universal Entertainment, and Taylor Sheridan who is making the transition at the start of 2029.

At Paramount, Cox most recently was at the newly relaunched Paramount Television Studios whose President Matt Thunell announced his departure in an internal memo. In the company email, which you can read below, and in Cox’s own farewell message to staff, the two recount some of Cox’s biggest accomplishments during his 20-year tenure.

Originally hired in 2006 as EVP Development and Original Programming for TV Land, Cox turned the cable network from a graveyard for old sitcoms to a legitimate original comedy player with the hit multi-cam sitcom Hot In Cleveland, which ran for 128 episodes. He then changed things up, bringing Darren Star into the fold for TV Land’s first single-camera series, romcom Younger, which ran for seven seasons, helped reinvigorate Star’s career and, years after its finale found new audiences on Netflix. The duo’s shorthand led to Star making his followup series with Cox at MTV Entertainment Studios, first for Paramount Network before it moved to Netflix where it became one of the streamer’s signature comedies.

In his next gig as head of programing for then newly-rebranded Paramount Network, Cox greenlighted Yellowstone from Sheridan and Glasser’s 101 after numerous other networks had passed on the neo-Western. That started a relationship that has yielded a slew of big hits, from Yellowstone and prequels 1883 and 1923 to Tulsa King, Landman, Marshals and the upcoming Yellowstone spinoff Dutton Ranch.

Cox also was instrumental in getting Butterworth into the fold, resulting in series MobLand and The Agency, both with 101 Studios.

After Showtime/MTV Entertainment Studios, where Cox was President, was folded into the new Paramount TV Studios following the August 2025 Skydance merger, he stayed on and continued to oversee the series under his purview, including the Taylor Sheridan slate and Emily In Paris.

Following Cox’s departure, his direct reports, VP, Paramount Television Studios, Antonia Covault, and VP, Paramount Television Studios, Todd Baynes, will transition to the studio’s current team, reporting into EVP, Head of Current, Carolyn Harris.

Here are the internal memos.

From Matt Thunell:

Team,

I’m reaching out to share some news with you regarding our wonderful colleague Keith Cox. Keith has made the decision to move on from his role with the studio after 20 years of invaluable contributions.
Over his long tenure, Keith helped oversee countless successful and culturally impactful series across the Paramount portfolio. He was an early champion of Taylor Sheridan and helped bring Yellowstone to Paramount Network, where it went on to become the top scripted show on cable and launched a franchise. He played an important role in the expansion of the Taylorverse, including Landman, 1883, 1923, Tulsa King, Mayor of Kingstown, and Lioness, as well as more recent hits like The Madison and Marshals; and the soon-to-debut Dutton Ranch. He also helped launch Jez Butterworth’s successful slate of series with Paramount+, including MobLand and The Agency. Keith has played a foundational role in MTV Entertainment Studios’ scripted success.

Additionally, Keith has been instrumental in the development and launch of a wide range of standout series across Paramount Network and TV Land. These include TV Land’s signature originals Hot in Cleveland and Younger, which helped redefine the network’s scripted identity, and on Netflix, Emily in Paris, which went on to become a global hit.

Keith has worked closely alongside some of the industry’s biggest showrunners, including Darren Star, Terry Winter, and Jez Butterworth, while also collaborating with longtime partner David Glasser and 101 Studios.

Most importantly, Keith is a respected leader and has been an incredible partner to both Dana and me from our first days at Paramount. We are grateful for his leadership, collaboration, and the impact he has had on our teams, creative partners, and franchises.

Over the next few weeks, Keith will work on a transition with his talented senior creative team, Todd Baynes and Antonia Covault, who have been shepherding these successes alongside Keith and our partners at 101 Studios. Both Antonia and Todd will continue to work closely with me, and will now report to Carolyn Harris, Head of Current Series.

Please join me in thanking Keith for his many contributions. We wish you the best and will miss you deeply!

Matt

From Keith Cox:

As I mark my two decades at this amazing company, I wanted to send a note of thanks as I embark on my next chapter.

Twenty years ago this month, I packed my bags and moved to New York City to join Viacom and work at the TV Land network. Back then, all the Viacom channels were ramping up their original programming, and since TV Land was home to some of the most celebrated comedies of all time, the company decided to try its hand at original comedies of its own.

We broke out of the gate with the incredibly successful HOT IN CLEVELAND. The night we shot the pilot, when Betty White walked onto the stage, the audience gave her a standing ovation that seemed to last 10 minutes. We knew that night we had something special. HOT IN CLEVELAND went on for six seasons, won multiple awards, and helped establish TV Land as a legitimate original programming destination, paving the way for our first single-camera comedy, YOUNGER.

YOUNGER, created by the iconic Darren Star, ran for seven seasons and became one of the defining shows of the studio. Darren had already created multiple global television hits, and it was incredibly rewarding to partner with him in building another. That creative relationship eventually led us to EMILY IN PARIS, which we sold to Netflix, where it became one of their most successful comedy series worldwide. I remain incredibly proud of the teams, both creatively and behind the scenes, who helped make these series so special.

Then came 2018. The company decided to rebrand Spike as Paramount Network, and Bob Bakish asked me to head up development under Kevin Kay. It was quite an honor, but we knew we had to make an impact quickly and build a slate that could redefine the network.

In a breakfast meeting with David Glasser, Kevin and I heard a pitch described as “The Godfather in Montana.” We immediately saw the potential. A month later, we met with Taylor Sheridan and bought YELLOWSTONE in the room.

What followed exceeded anything we could have imagined. YELLOWSTONE became the #1 scripted show on television and launched what Chris McCarthy would later call the Taylorverse. With Taylor at the center of it all, we built one of the most compelling lineups in television: MAYOR OF KINGSTOWN, LIONESS, TULSA KING, LANDMAN, THE MADISON, 1883, 1923, CBS’s mega hit MARSHALS, and the upcoming DUTTON RANCH.

One of the things I’m proudest of is how aggressively and passionately this company supported these shows from the very beginning. With talented teams across every department rowing in the same direction, we were able to launch an unprecedented number of successful series in a remarkably short amount of time.

Most recently, our expansion into London led us to another exceptional creator, Jez Butterworth. Through my partnership with David Glasser, we brought Jez into the fold with an overall deal that led to the critically acclaimed THE AGENCY and MOBLAND.

Getting the opportunity to identify, develop, and produce these shows with creators like Darren, Taylor, and Jez is what has made this chapter of my career so fulfilling. But equally fulfilling has been working closely with my creative partners Antonia Covault and Todd Baynes, who have been on this journey with me since the beginning, and who I know will continue to shepherd these shows moving forward.
I’m incredibly confident that with Dana and Matt at the studio and Cindy, Jane, and Chris at Paramount+, these shows and franchises will continue to thrive. They care deeply about the work, the creators, and the audiences.

I apologize if this farewell reads a little like an IMDb page, but these shows were never just titles on a slate. They were years of collaboration, creative risk-taking, belief, hard work, and friendship. Our shows define our company, and our company is defined by its people.

What I will miss most are the people who made these 20 years so memorable.
And with that, I say thank you for 20 amazing years.

Keith