In an era of streaming, some media companies are parting ways with their underperforming cable networks. Paramount appears willing to go in the other direction, refreshing the brand identities and programming of its cable channels as part of a broader effort to reach young, digital-savvy viewers.

That was one of the key takeaways from a Wall Street Journal report published on Saturday, which said Paramount’s new CEO David Ellison is embracing a revamp of MTV, BET, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central and other cable networks, despite positioning the company as a streaming-first enterprise.

This spring, Ellison convened a dinner with several former MTV executives at an upscale restaurant in Los Angeles, where he and newly-minted company president Jeff Shell asked how the channel that once defined American pop culture might be reinvented.

Ellison said he had received calls from potential partners, including longtime music executive Irving Azoff and Universal Music Group CEO Lucian Grainge, as well as artists interested in MTV’s future, the Journal reported. The discussion produced ideas ranging from live events to using MTV’s archive of interviews and documentaries with artists from the 1980s and 1990s.

While Comcast and Warner Bros Discovery have sought to shed legacy cable assets, Ellison has taken the opposite approach. He intends to keep and refresh MTV, Comedy Central and Nickelodeon while cutting more than $2 billion in costs, building Paramount’s studio and video game operations and strengthening its streaming platforms.

“There is probably a place outside the linear world where these brands exist and flourish,” Andy Gordon, Paramount’s Chief Operating Officer, told reporters in August.

Shell has privately pointed to Bravo as a model, citing the network’s reinvention around reality programming and events like Bravocon. Executives have also discussed developing MTV’s website as a digital hub for music discovery, with deeper offerings than Spotify or YouTube.

The task is complicated by shifting consumer habits. Nielsen data shows the median MTV viewer is 56, and younger audiences continue to abandon traditional pay television.

Some media analysts think it could be a hard ask to convince young people to pay for cable in an era of streaming, where access, perspective, unique programming and personalization trump legacy branding.

Still, Paramount’s cable networks earn quite a bit of money — during its most-recent financial quarter, Paramount brought in more than $4 billion from its broadcast and cable networks combined — even if the business is on the decline (the revenue figure was 6 percent lower than the comparable financial period last year).

Prior to its merger with Skydance last month, former Paramount executives discussed ways of reigning in costs associated with its underperforming cable networks, including a proposed sale of BET Media, which would have included BET and VH1 in addition to streaming platform BET Plus.

After two failed efforts to seek a buyer for BET Media — there were offers, but none that approached the amount Paramount wanted for the business unit — Ellison told reporters last month that the company intends to keep BET Media for the foreseeable future.

Cindy Holland, a former Netflix executive who now leads streaming at Paramount, has discussed investing more money and resources in developing original content for BET Media — a proposition that could be significantly expensive, given the niche appeal of the streaming service.

But at least one financial analyst agrees with Holland: In a note published earlier this week, Jessica Reif Ehrlich of Bank of America Securities said Paramount will need to make significant investments in content if the company wants to turn a profit on its streaming unit.

Ehrlich added that Paramount Plus remains a critical component of the company’s long-term strategy. While growth in digital platforms is a priority for marketers and consumers, turning Paramount Plus profitable will require further investment, bundled offerings or possibly a merger with another underperforming streaming service.

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Read more:

• Can MTV Be Cool Again? Paramount’s New Owner Plots Cable Revival [Wall Street Journal]
• Paramount posts profitable Q2, streaming business earns $2.2 billion
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• Financial analyst warns of likely growth struggles at Paramount
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