Paramount Global added 5.6 million Paramount+ subscribers in the fourth quarter, upping the DTC streaming platform’s overall heft to 77.5 million paid users.
Meanwhile, watch time on Paramount’s ad-supported Pluto TV platform surged 16% YoY from October - December. And the media conglomerate’s film division surged in Q4, driving nearly $900 million in global box-office sales on the drawing strength of Gladiator II and Sonic the Hedgehog 3.
But as Paramount Global waits for a currently muddled regulatory process to close its $8 billion sale to Skydance Media — company leaders said it’ll be done sometime in the first half of this year — the strong performances weren’t enough.
Paramount reported a fourth-quarter loss of 33 cents per share, driven by operational cost increases mainly tied to restructuring. Revenue of $7.98 billion during the period was down 1.6% YoY and came in below forecasts.
Meanwhile, Paramount’s biggest revenue producer, linear television, saw fourth-quarter revenue drop 4% to $4.98 billion, mainly because of a 4% drop in ad sales and a cord-cutting-fueled 7% decline in distribution.
Still, Paramount executives were buoyed by the strong performance from subscription streaming, which they said was partly driven by the latest series addition from producer Taylor Sheridan, Texas-oil-themed drama Landman. The series, starring Billy Bob Thornton became the most watched Paramount+ original show ever, the company said.
For all of 2024, Paramount+ subscribers increased by 10 million, 3.5 million of that growth arriving in the third quarter.
Even with Paramount+’s user ranks swelling to shouting distance of 80 million, there are concerns among equity analysts that the SVOD doesn’t have what it takes on its own to compete in the cutthroat global subscription business. Netflix, after all, now has more than 300 million users worldwide.
“There’s the question as to whether it has the scale to sustain itself in the longer term,” MoffettNathanson analyst Robert Fishman wrote in a note to investors. During Paramount’s Q4 call, Fishman asked if the company remains open to an outside partnership for its SVOD.
“We’re going to always look at opportunities to drive more value. And as opportunities come together, we’ll evaluate them, but there’s no news to share today,” responded Chris McCarthy, co-CEO of Paramount Global.
McCarthy and other top Paramount leaders were also taciturn on the subject of the Skydance deal finally closing, a matter made murkier recently with President Donald Trump taking over the U.S. Justice Dept. and FCC. Trump has sued Paramount for $20 billion, alleging the CBS news program 60 Minutes deceptively edited an interview last fall with former Vice President Kamala Harris, who was running against Trump at the time for president.