ViacomCBS, the world’s leading producers of premium entertainment content, connects billions of people through television, streaming content, publishing, digital content, and much more. They also offer production, distribution, and advertising solutions for their partners over 5 continents. ViacomCBS’s ‘No diversity, No commission’ content policy is recently launched under which all the new productions must be made by a diverse team.
ViacomCBS’s ‘No diversity, No commission’ content policy applies to its production suppliers working for their UK brands such as MTV, Channel 5, Nickelodeon, BET, Comedy Central, and Paramount Network. According to the policy, the production companies must adhere to diversity guidelines and post required production sign offs and agreed budgets, the project lead should investigate elements that promote diversity and make the necessary corrections as needed. The policy was initially launched by ViacomCBS networks in the UK but is now applied to their business across 5 continents.
Society is now at an inflection point on the issue of systemic racism, and as individuals, as a company, we all have a part to play in righting centuries of wrongs. – said Maria Kyriacou, President of ViacomCBS networks UK & Australia
The primary intent of ViacomCBS’s ‘No diversity, No commission’ policy is to provide an opportunity to diverse voices behind the camera and promote their ideas in all aspects of production. The diverse ideas will eventually help to create impactful and sustainable content for the audience.
Further initiatives to increase on-screen representation have also been rolled out. Under the Global Content, Diverse Voices program, ViacomCBS Network International (VCNI) will identify global content that shows underrepresented cultures across Youth and Entertainment including Kids and Family brands. Also, Elevators Diverse creators will find creators in Latin America to allocate 25% of the ViacomCBS International Studios’ budget to the education and development of projects by Black Indigenous People Of Color (BIPOC) creators. Also, VCNI’s Europe, Africa, Middle East and EMEA division has decided to dedicate 30% of their budget in 2021 to produce stories focused on underrepresented groups’ issues.
Audiences around the world, particularly younger generations and kids, are becoming more and more diverse in composition, outlook and perspectives, and it’s our responsibility to ensure that our content reflects the world in which our audiences live, – said Jules Borkent, Executive Vice President (EVP) of kids and family at VCNI
ViacomCBS is committed to inclusion and diversity and has taken multiple initiatives to advance its strategy further. They have also introduced the BAME Talent Sponsorship Programme to promote career advancement by pairing senior leaders with diverse talents. They will create an inclusion board to connect senior leaders and its Employee Resource Groups (ERG’s) to prepare quarterly reports on their performance.
With the fresh wave of ‘Black Lives Matter’ protests, many companies have stepped up and changed their approach to diversity and inclusion. Through the ‘No diversity, No commission’ policy, ViacomCBS also aims to amplify its programs, both on-screen and off-screen to create diverse content and to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion.
