Paramount Global and former CBS chief Leslie Moonves have agreed to pay $30.5 million to settle allegations of insider trading and trying to hide sexual assault allegations, according to Attorney General Letitia James.

Moonves has to pay $2.5 million, which will be divvied up by CBS shareholders. Those shareholders will also get $24 million from Paramount, with the other $6 million going to "strengthening mechanisms for reporting and investigating complaints of sexual harassment and assault."

In addition, any stock trade by a senior Paramount executive will have to be approved by its chief legal officer.

Since the allegations against Moonves were first reported, former CBS parent ViacomCBS changed its name to Paramount Global.

The settlement is a result of an investigation by James' office that concluded CBS and top leadership knew of the sexual assault allegations against Moonves and hid them from "regulators, shareholders, and the public," with the help of an L.A. police department captain who tipped them off to a confidential sexual assault complaint and helped keep it from being made public.

James also said that a senior executive -- whom she identified as former Chief Communications Officer Gil Schwartz, had sold millions of dollars of CBS stock before the allegations were eventually made public, which she said constituted insider trading.

"Six weeks before the first article about the allegations became public, Mr. Schwartz sold 160,709 shares of CBS stock at an average weighted price of $55.08 for a total of $8,851,852. The stock dropped 10.9% from the day before the news broke to the trading day after," she said.

Also as part of the settlement, CBS has to institute harassment training and revamp its HR, providing biannual reports to the attorney general's office.

“CBS and Leslie Moonves' attempts to silence victims, lie to the public, and mislead investors can only be described as reprehensible,” said James. “As a publicly traded company, CBS failed its most basic duty to be honest and transparent with the public and investors."

She called CBS's and Moonves' actions "persistent and illegal conduct" that broke investor protection laws.

"We are pleased to resolve this matter concerning events from 2018 with the New York Attorney General’s office, without any admission of liability or wrongdoing," said CBS parent Paramount Global. "The matter involved alleged misconduct by CBS’s former CEO, who was terminated for cause in 2018, and does not relate in any way to the current company." ■

CBS said it has suspended its search for a permanent CEO, instead extending the contract of its acting CEO -- long-time executive Joseph Ianniello -- for another year.

CBS said it would extend Ianniello’s contract for an additional six months, until Dec. 31. Ianniello, who joined CBS in 1997, was named chief operating officer in 2013 and served in that role until September, when the company tapped him to take over while it searched for a replacement for chairman and CEO Les Moonves, who was terminated in the middle of a sexual harassment scandal. 

In a press release, CBS said that the extension is a testament to Ianniello’s achievements.

“Joe has demonstrated exceptional leadership during this time of unprecedented transition at CBS,” the broadcaster’s board of directors said in a press release. “He steadied the ship with some key appointments and a commitment to cultural change, and steered it forward by focusing CBS’ operations around its growing direct-to-consumer strategy. We are very pleased to recognize Joe’s talents and efforts with this extension, and we look forward to all that he’ll continue to do to build on CBS’ remarkable momentum.”

The decision to hold off the search for a CEO comes as speculation that CBS could be more open to recombining with its former corporate sister Viacom. While CBS had resisted a combination in the past, and the top shareholder of both companies, National Amusements Inc., agreed not to push for a merger for two years, the changing programming landscape may have changed CBS’s stance. Viacom CEO Bob Bakish, a favorite of NAI chief and CBS and Viacom vice chair Shari Redstone, has been said to have an edge for the top spot should a merger come to be. 

CBS says its over-the-top direct-to-consumers services already have nearly 5 million subscribers, well ahead of expectations.

Speaking on CBS’s earnings call Thursday with analysts, CBS CEO Les Moonves said that subscriber growth for CBS All Access and Showtime’s OTT product are “far beyond where we expected them to be.”

Moonves said CBS expects to exceed its goal of 8 million subscribers by 2020.

He noted that the streaming services generate higher fees than traditional distribution and create a direct relationship with viewers. That relationship yields valuable data, creating advertising that generates higher rates.

The OTT services area also attracting the next generation of viewers, Moonves said. The average age of viewers on CBS All Access is 20 years younger than viewers who watch on broadcast and cable.

Similarly, CBS’s OTT news service, CBSN, has a young audience, with 80% of viewers between the ages of 18 and 49, and an average age of 38.

Related: CBS Studios International, Amazon Prime Work Out Multi-Season Deal for ‘The Good Fight’

CBS will be following the CBSN model with two more products. CBS Sports’s direct-to-consumer service will launch later this month, just before the start of March Madness and The Masters.

In the fall, an entertainment news service based on Entertainment Tonight will launch.

Both new services will be free and ad-supported.

“We’re setting ourselves up for the direct-to-consumer future,” Moonves said.

CBS All Access will also be going international, launching in Canada in June, and then in Australia and Europe.

With its OTT business, Moonves said CBS is actually adding total subscribers and expects to surpass its goal of $2.5 billion in retransmission and reverse comp income by 2020.

"In a nutshell, changing viewer habits are resulting in more subscribers for us and at higher rates,” he said.

Nina Tassler, CBS Entertainment chairman since 2014, will step down at the end of the year, with Glenn Geller, executive VP of current programming for CBS Entertainment and CBS Television Studios, stepping up to president of entertainment.

Geller's promotion is immediate; he reports to Leslie Moonves, president and CEO of CBS Corp., and oversees entertainment programming for primetime, daytime and late night.

Tassler will remain entertainment chairman until the end of the year and will take on an advisory role at CBS through at least 2017. She'll pursue what she called "creative interests" beyond the TV world.

The move comes with CBS enjoying a long run as a force in primetime, though the network is challenged to replace aging hits with new ones and to bring down the average age of its audience. Superhero drama Supergirl is one anticipated debut designed to do that this fall.

"Nina and I have been colleagues and friends for 25 years," Moonves said. "It is one of the proudest partnerships of my professional life."

Tassler joined CBS in 1997 as VP of drama at CBS Productions. Before that, Tassler headed drama development for Warner Bros. Television. She called CBS "a special place."

"For the past 18 years, I've been blessed to be part of an amazing team that has lifted this network to an enviable run of success," Tassler said. "I will always love this place, yet it is time for my next chapter, and I'm thrilled that I can pursue my other creative interests while still being part of the company."

Geller has been executive VP of current programming since June 2013, overseeing CBS' combined Network/Studio department and creative affairs for more than 30 primetime series on CBS and The CW.

"Glenn Geller is an accomplished programming executive who has been a major part of CBS' success since 2001," Moonves said. "When Nina told me her plans, we both knew we had an obvious successor in our own ranks

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