Paramount Global added 6.3 million global streaming subscribers in the first quarter and 62 million subscribers at the end of March, up from 56 million at the end of 2021.
The entertainment conglomerate released the latest figures on Tuesday as part of its first-quarter earnings report. It also describes in detail that its streaming platform Paramount+ has grown to “nearly 40 million” subscribers from 32.8 million at the end of December. Its outreach of 6.8 million new Paramount+ subscribers will increase the main streamer to 39.6 million.
In Q4 2021, the company, led by President and CEO Bob Bucky, added 9.4 million global subscribers to its paid streaming offerings, which also include Showtime OTT.
Paramount explained why it added more Paramount+ users in the last quarter than full streaming subscribers, saying, “Other direct customer service subscribers are down, mainly due to new schedule time.”
Bakish spoke to an analyst this morning after making a call about what he called a “differentiated playbook” to give Paramount Global an edge over industry rivals. “In terms of content – streaming, streaming models, platforms and global reach – we wrote and implemented a differentiated playbook for growing a diversified entertainment company and building a financially viable business with healthy long-term margins.” he said. .
Bakish recently canceled Netflix, announcing that it had lost subscribers and share prices to argue that its studio growth strategy, which includes a mix of television, legacy and digital platforms, would allow it to continue its streaming business globally. “We are bringing all of this together into a single model that really drives the momentum of streaming and makes us a more attractive financial model where we can generate similar margins as legacy streamers on a smaller scale,” he said. analysts
“So despite all this talk, nothing has changed in the context of our thinking. “We see a lot of momentum here and we are very excited about the way forward,” added Bakishi.
Rejecting an analyst’s suggestion that the streaming market may be saturated, Bakish emphasized how Paramount Global’s key strategy was appealing to a wide range of TV consumers, with free and pay-TV streaming options. “So there is no doubt that the market climate has changed a bit, we continue to think that consumers are only moving in one direction and we are very excited about the potential there,” argued Akhali.
Ad-supported free streaming service Pluto TV also continued to increase its number of monthly active users, or MAUs, to “almost” 68 million by the end of 2021, from over 64 million. Streamer said that total global viewing hours rose to double digits last year.
BMO Capital Markets analyst Daniel Salmon recently increased his forecast for the end of his first quarter from 35 million to 37.9 million Paramount+ subscribers and his global streaming subscriber estimate from 59.3 million to 62, 1 million. He also planned to close the company in March with 65.7 million MAUs.
In February, the company disclosed a name change from ViacomCBS to Paramount Global and detailed plans to “accelerate the global push beyond Paramount+” by announcing new content, enhanced product offerings and continued international expansion during the investor event. At the time, he also increased his global streaming subscriber target from 65 million to 75 million by the end of 2024 to over 100 million subscribers. The company also increased its 2024 direct customer revenue target from $6 billion to $9 billion.
“We see a huge global opportunity in streaming, a much larger potential market that can only be captured by linear TV and movies,” Bakish said at the time. “We are excited about our ability to not only compete, but thrive, creating significant value for consumers and shareholders. “When we expect the size of the opportunity to only match our ambition to use it.”
Paramount’s first quarter earnings report reflects new financial reporting segments including direct-to-consumer (DTC) or broadcast, television media and filmed entertainment.
DTC’s first-quarter revenue increased 82% to $1.09 billion, followed by a 95% increase in subscription revenue (to $742 million) and a 59% increase in advertising revenue (to $742 million). $347 million), reflecting the growth of Pluto TV and Paramount+. Prices and impressions of both services.”
Quarterly Adjusted Unit Operating Income Before Depreciation and Amortization Losses (OIBDA) increased to $456 million from $149 million in Q1 2021 as expenses increased from $747 million to nearly $1 .55 billion. Recently, Wall Street has increasingly focused on the profitability prospects of the broadcast business.
Premieres of the company’s most recent films are included. crying s jackas forever. First-quarter theater unit revenue declined 27% to $624 million, driven by lower licensing revenue than the prior period. Adjusted OIBDA fell to a loss of $37 million from a profit of $179 million, “due to increased marketing costs related to quarterly and future releases,” the company said.
Also calling analysts, Baki was keen to revive the movie business this year after the studio scored three blockbusters last quarter: crying, jackas forever, the lost city – and in the second room there was room number 1 sonic the hedgehog 2.
He predicted that the 2022 box office would drop 20% from its 2019 performance. “We are very happy to be in this business. “We think this is a good standalone business and clearly manages the broadcast,” said Bakishi.
First-quarter theater revenue increased from $130 million to $131 million after the prior-year period was “impacted by the closing or downsizing of theaters in response to COVID-19”. Licensing and other revenues were down 42%, “mainly because of the previous year’s license profits. 2 america is coming s Tom Clancy has no regrets.”
At Paramount’s television media unit, first-quarter revenue fell 6% to $5.65 billion. Excluding the non-rebroadcast of the Super Bowl, as CBS did in 2021, revenue increased 2%. Quarterly ad revenue was down 13%, “reflecting the 17 percentage point impact primarily on CBS Super Bowl LV broadcasters in the previous quarter. With the exception of the Super Bowl, ad revenue increased 4%. First quarter affiliate and subscriber revenue increased 1%, “due to higher revenue from rate increases and the distribution of virtual multi-channel video programming to subscribers of distributor distributors (traditional Pay TV)”.
Adjusted OIBDA in the television media segment dropped 13% to $1.54 billion in the first quarter, “largely due to Super Bowl broadcasters compared to a year ago and higher spending in 2022 due to more original programming.
According to Paramount, total first-quarter revenue was $7.33 billion, down 1%. But if we don’t factor in the impact of the Super Bowl a year ago, revenue would have increased by 5%. Paramount’s quarterly operating profit was down 49% to $775 million, while adjusted OIBDA was down 44% to $913 million.
Wells Fargo analyst Stephen Kohl summarized the results as follows: “Strong results from Paramount+ while Pluto misses our estimates.” He added in the report: “Paramount is in the midst of a linear broadcast pillar and… it’s a hybrid campaign through which it needs to manage/increase traditional revenue and also successfully build DTC assets. Overall, we think it did very well with Q1 print, first in the mighty Paramount + Net Supplements/Revenue. TV stations performed well and topped ratings, while Pluto’s monetization leaves management with a few questions.
Paramount shares are down more than 4 percent in premarket trading.
Source: Hollywood Reporter
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