Paramount Global has “what it takes to succeed,” including a large enough scale, and it takes a “disciplined approach to content creation,” said Shari Redstone, non-executive chairman of the conglomerate’s annual shareholders meeting, on Wednesday.
“The past year has been one of growth and success,” he said at an online event that was the first such gathering since the company changed its name in February. Among other things, the company was able to “maximize the capacity of our content, accelerate our momentum in streaming and deliver strong quarterly results”.
The company’s name was changed in recognition of the “great progress” made since the Viacom-CBS merger, and is also a symbol that the company is “killing our exciting future,” said Redstone. It also demonstrated a “disciplined approach to content creation” and Paramount’s revenue diversification into free and paid models.
On the streaming front, the company president highlighted Paramount+ as “one of the fastest growing streaming services in the United States” with one of the largest libraries of content. He emphasized that last year’s revenue stream increase was “far ahead of our forecast.”
The company’s film studio also received praise from Redstone. Paramount Pictures published five issues. There’s only one movie so far this year,” the department emphasized, citing similar movies. Top Gun: Maverick.
Redstone ended his remarks by saying that the company has “what it takes to be successful and we’re starting now.”
At last year’s meeting, Redstone announced the company, then known as ViacomCBS, as “one of the kings of content” and argued that following the merger in late 2019 that gave rise to the company, “we have taken great strides to transform a combined business. .
Redstone was asked about the scale of the company, as some on Wall Street were still wondering if he could pursue another big deal. “We have a world-class asset portfolio and we are implementing a strategy that makes us grow and differentiates us from our competitors,” he said. “As I often say, scale is not related to market capital or how much money you spend on content. Just spend money on content that resonates with our audience and makes them want more.
His conclusion: “We really have the scale we need to compete.” He later reiterated, “We believe 100% that we have a scale… for success and victory.”
The president also spoke about the company’s “unparalleled” library across content platforms, genres and demographics, adding that “we see a lot of progress going forward.”
Meanwhile, entertainment center president and CEO Bob Bakish answered questions about business trends at a meeting on Wednesday. When asked about the competitive streaming space and how Paramount positions itself in it, Bakishi said that “not everyone is a winner” in the market, arguing that the company has a “higher financial outlook” than pure game streamers. In that content, he emphasized that his team has long been looking for a combination of free, promotional and subscription VOD streaming models, which are also being started by traditional streamers, presumably signaling to Netflix, which plans to release the ad. Paramount’s strategy is to ensure it can expand the address market and see “real appeal,” the CEO said.
Bakish also quoted Redstone’s late father Sumner as saying that “content is king” and “it really is”. and argued that Top Gun: Maverick It’s one of the top releases, the success of which “underlines the power of Paramount’s content engine.”
The last question was when the box office could return to its pre-coronavirus level. “I think there is light at the end of the tunnel,” said Bakishi. “And that’s good for us and, frankly, for the industry, because movies are important and clean and simple, and we have great stuff.” He also set a Memorial Day record that was set Top Gun: Maverick. “It’s been shown that if you make great content, they will come,” he said. “Everybody showed up”, which makes the film a “big stage”.
In early May, Paramount said it had added 6.3 million global streaming subscribers in the first quarter, up from 62 million at the end of March and 56 million at the end of 2021.
Paramount CFO Naven Chopra recently praised Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway investment vehicle for buying a $2.6 billion stake in companies that own Paramount Pictures, CBS, MTV, Nickelodeon, Showtime, Comedy Central and TV. streaming Paramount+ and Pluto TV, among other assets. . Buffett’s involvement makes the legendary billionaire one of the company’s biggest foreign investors. “We’ve always believed there are a lot of positives, so it’s interesting to see that people from Berkshire have a lot of the same opportunities,” Chopra told an investor conference.
Source: Hollywood Reporter
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