Paramount Global for sale latest - Variety: Paramount Global Adds 3.5 Million Streaming Subscribers in Q3 Bruised by TV, Movie Declines

Story from Variety:

Paramount Global added 3.5 million new Paramount+ subscribers in its third quarter, but those gains failed to offset meaningful declines in its larger TV and film businesses.

The owner of the CBS broadcast network, the Paramount movie studio and cable networks Comedy Central said third-quarter revenue fell 6% to $6.73 billion from $7.13 billion in the year earlier period, crimped by a 6% decline in revenue from its TV properties and a 34% decline in its movie businesses. Revenue for the company’s direct-to-consumer operations rose 10%.

Paramount reported earnings of $1 million, or 0 cents per share, compared with profit of $295 million, or 43 cents a share, in the year-earlier period. Earnings came to 49 cents a share when one-time items were removed. The company reported a charge of $104 million in the quarter tied to impairment of the value of its FCC licenses — part of a process of examining asset value that has been done a few times this year — and a charge of $321 million tied to severance related to layoffs and the exit of former CEO Bob Bakish.

Like its rivals, Paramount is struggling to move forward in an era when more of the consumers who once gathered regularly to watch TV mainstays like “CBS Evening News” and “The Daily Show” at specific times and days have moved to streaming venues, where they watch their video favorites at times of their own choosing. Despite a library of popular content, Paramount is saddled with an array of entertainment-focused cable networks such as MTV and TV Land that have seen their pull on the viewing public diminish over time.

The company has in recent weeks worked to cut $500 million from its operations as it awaits a merger with Skydance Media, a production entity led by executive David Ellison. Executives there have articulated a plan to make further cuts once the deal is consummated, and Paramount on Friday reiterated that it expected the transaction to close in the first half of 2025, and said it had made 90% of the cuts that would take it to its budget goals. The rest are expected to be made by the end of the year.

“Our DTC segment successfully delivered profitability for the second quarter in a row, improving by more than $1 billion over the past four quarters, and, across the company, we continue to successfully execute non-content cost reductions that will result in $500 million in annual run rate savings,” said the company’s three CEOs, George Cheeks, Chris McCarthy and Brian Robbins.

Revenue at the company’s biggest unit, its TV business, fell 6% to $4.3 billion, as fees it collects from cable and satellite distributors fell 7%, owing to subscriber declines and the absence of pay-per-view boxing events once put on by the company’s Showtime. Advertising revenue fell 2%, despite upticks in political advertising tied to the recent 2024 presidential election.

Revenue at Paramount’s film businesses fell 34% to $590 million, with theatrical revenue off by 71%. The company attributed the decline to comparisons with the year-earlier quarter and the timing and number of release in each period.

The company’s direct to consumer operations saw ad revenue rise 18%, while subscription revenue increased 7% due to robust activity at Paramount+. As of the end of September, Paramount+ had 72 million subscribers following the pickup of 3.5 million in the quarter.