Paramount Global revealed its quarterly financial results on Wednesday, summarizing the three and 12 months ending on Dec. 31, 2023. While the company fell short of its overall revenue expectations, it reported gains on its Paramount+ streaming service with a total of $67.5 million subscribers. The metric is up 4.1 million subscribers compared to last year, although it does not take into account the recent Super Bowl between the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers. The National Football League’s championship matchup attained a record audience of 123.7 million average viewers with a household rating of 43.5 with broadcasts across CBS and Nickelodeon, both of which were available to stream on the platform.
Although a report from CNBC indicated that merger talks between Paramount Global and Warner Bros. Discovery has come to a halt, there are concerns about the future of the company. Paramount shut down Showtime Sports last quarter and laid off approximately 800 employees in the week after the Super Bowl, equating to about 3% of its workforce. Shares for Paramount Global have declined of late with the media conglomerate closing Wednesday down 1.69% at $11.06 per share.
Total company revenue finished at $7.6 billion with earnings at $0.04 per share, but the outlet experienced a substantial slide in advertising revenue that affected total revenue by 6%. Revenue in the “TV Media” category finished at $7.638 billion for the quarter, which is down 6% from the previous year. For the four quarters within 2023, the company garnered overall revenue of $29.652 billion; however, it attained a loss of $451 million overall. Media revenue during the 12-month stretch equated to $20.09 billion.
Direct-to-consumer revenue increased 34% year-over-year with a 27% boon in global viewing hours. According to Antenna, Paramount+ was the No. 1 premium streaming service in U.S. sign-ups in the fourth quarter and since its launch. Overall revenue for the business sector was $6.74 billion on the year, a 37% increase compared to the finish in 2022. The direct-to-consumer segment continues to operate at a loss with an adjusted OIBDA of $1.664 billion, a 9% improvement from the previous year. Global average revenue per user for Paramount+ augmented by 31% in addition to a 69% increase in revenue for the subscription-based platform.
“Our disciplined execution and strong content offering drove our results in 2023, as we continue to evolve our business for profitable growth in 2024 and beyond,” Bob Bakish, Paramount Global president and chief executive officer, said in a statement. “In Q4, Paramount+ revenue increased 69%, DTC Adjusted OIBDA improved for the third consecutive quarter, and we now expect to reach domestic Paramount+ profitability in 2025 – a significant milestone.”
During the company’s earnings call on Wednesday afternoon, Bakish discussed the joint streaming venture between The Walt Disney Company, FOX Sports and Warner Bros. Discovery that would also include its other cable networks. As the company continues to try and lower costs and increase shareholder value, it has reportedly discussed combining streaming services with Comcast, the parent company of NBCUniversal and its NBC Sports division. The aforementioned joint streaming venture is scheduled to launch this fall but is facing a lawsuit from FuboTV that alleges the service is in violation of U.S. antitrust law.
“There’s still a lot we don’t know about this service – things like price; packaging; consumer appetite – and to the consumer point, for a true sports fan, this product only has a subset of sports,” Bakish said. “It’s missing half the NFL, a lot of college [and] has virtually no soccer [or] golf. So look, it’s hard to believe that’s ideal, especially at the price points that have been speculated in terms of our view on sports.”
For the quarter, Paramount Global cultivated $558 million in net operating cash flow along with $443 million in free cash flow. The company also believes in its sports strategy, primarily driven through its CBS Sports division that includes live broadcasts of games in the National Football League, Big Ten Conference and the PGA Tour. CBS Sports Chairman Sean McManus is planning to retire from the company in April after leading the division for 27 years. He will be succeeded by David Berson, who will lead the division in the role of president and chief executive officer.
