ViacomCBS Confirms Looking To Sell CBS Studios Radford Lot – Deadline

A week after finalizing the sale of Black Rock, CBS ‘longtime headquarters in New York City, ViacomCBS is now looking to part ways with its CBS Studios campus in Studio City.

CBS CEO George Cheeks confirmed in a note to employees that the company has hired commercial real estate company JLL to explore all options for the space. He said the move “aligns with our strategy of divesting non-core assets like real estate and directing that value toward priorities like creating more of our premium content.”

While Cheeks acknowledged that employees will likely have questions regarding the decision, he assured them the company will have adequate capacity for broadcast and studio production.

Since CBS and Viacom met in December 2019, many duplicate assets have been sold or marked for transfer. The sale of Black Rock to Harbor Group, which closed last week, grossed $ 760 million. The company operates another LA production facility, the Paramount Pictures batch in Hollywood.

The 18 soundstage production facility has been a fixture in the Los Angeles entertainment industry for decades. Silent film producer and director Mack Sennett opened it in 1928. Soon it became best known for television, hosting productions like Gun smoke, Gilligan Island, The Mary Tyler Moore Show and, more recently, Big Brother and Entertainment tonight.

Bloomberg had the first report on the business plan.

Here’s Cheeks’ full memo:

Team CBS – I wanted you to know about something you will be reading in media reports very soon.

ViacomCBS has engaged commercial real estate company JLL to explore a potential sale of our Radford campus in Studio City. Similar to our announcement last week regarding the sale of Black Rock in New York, this aligns with our strategy of divesting non-core assets like real estate and directing that value towards priorities like building ‘more of our best content.

I know that even the possibility of a sale raises a lot of questions, especially for those who work at Radford. I can tell you that whether or not Radford is sold, we will ensure that we have the studio capacity necessary to support our major broadcast and production businesses. Beyond that, until we have more definitive information, there isn’t much we can say at this point in the process. I will share any new information with you as soon as possible.

George