Paramount Consumer Products

Paramount Consumer Products (formerly Nickelodeon & Viacom Consumer Products, then ViacomCBS Consumer Products) is the retailing and licensing division of Paramount Skydance Corporation. The department is in charge of merchandising for Paramount-owned brands. As of 2015, the division was valued at $3 billion. While the company manages merchandise for the entire Paramount portfolio (including Paramount Pictures and Comedy Central), its main focus is Paramount's children's television brand, Nickelodeon. Most of its products are based on TV shows that originated on the network, as well as properties that they purchased and incorporated into Nickelodeon, like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Winx Club. From 2007 onward, the division's most profitable property has been SpongeBob SquarePants. According to an article in The Chicago Tribune, Paramount Consumer Products takes "an unconventional approach to licensing" where the company waits up to two years after a show's premiere before releasing tie-in merchandise. This is in contrast to competitors like Disney Consumer Products, which generally release products to coincide with a premiere.