Paramount Streaming Revenue Rises, but TV Segment Faces Headwinds
Media company is pursuing a high-stakes bid for rival Warner Bros. Discovery
- Paramount reported fourth-quarter revenue of $8.15 billion, with direct-to-consumer revenue up 10% and TV media revenue down 5%.
- The company recently revised its bid for Warner Bros. Discovery to $31 a share.
- Paramount expects direct-to-consumer profitability in 2026 and is on track to achieve $3 billion in cost savings in coming years.
Paramount’s PSKY -2.21%decrease; red down pointing triangle streaming revenue grew in the fourth quarter, but the company—which is pursuing a bid for rival media company Warner Bros. Discovery—reported weakness in its TV media segment.
Paramount, whose assets include CBS, Comedy Central, Nickelodeon and its namesake studio, earlier this week revised its bid for Warner, now offering $31 a share.
In a letter to shareholders Wednesday, Paramount Chief Executive David Ellison said that the company views Warner as “an accelerant” to achieving its goals more quickly.
Paramount reported revenue of $8.15 billion for its fourth quarter, in line with analyst estimates.
Revenue for the direct-to-consumer segment, which includes the Paramount+ streaming service, was $2.2 billion, up 10% from the year-ago period, the company said. Paramount+ ended the quarter with 78.9 million subscribers; analysts polled by FactSet expected it to have 80.2 million subscribers at the end of the period.
TV media revenue declined by 5% year-over-year to $4.71 billion. Paramount said it expects to see continued headwinds to affiliate revenue, driven by declines in pay-TV subscribers.
Paramount’s shares were up less than 1% in after-hours trading.
The company forecast total first-quarter revenue between $7.15 billion and $7.35 billion and said it expects to grow direct-to-consumer profitability in 2026 and have stable margins in its TV media segment.
In November, Paramount raised its cost-cutting target to at least $3 billion, up from $2 billion. The company said Wednesday that it was on track to achieve its savings targets through 2027.
Earlier this week, Warner said it had received a revised offer from Paramount to buy the entire company for $31 a share and said its board of directors determined Paramount’s revised bid “could reasonably be expected to lead” to a proposal superior to Netflix’s signed agreement to buy Warner’s studios and HBO Max streaming service.
Paramount closed its $8 billion merger with Skydance in August. The deal was approved by the Federal Communications Commission in July, shortly after Paramount Global agreed to pay $16 million to settle a lawsuit by President Trump over the editing of a “60 Minutes” interview with then-presidential candidate Kamala Harris.