Paramount+ continues to scale the success of their entertainment streaming platform and has reached an impressive milestone of 67.5 million streaming subscribers worldwide at the end of its fourth quarter, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
The growth marks a gain of 4.1 million from the prior financial quarter, and the company says that it expected to deliver “significant total company earnings growth” in 2024, and reach profitability for Paramount+ domestically in 2025.
Paramount CEO Bob Bakish addressed the increases in viewer engagement, reduced churn and a subscription price increase as bringing profitability to Paramount+ next year, stating that it represented a “significant and exciting milestone in the company’s transformation.”
Additionally, Paramount CFO, Naveen Chopra forecasted a lower programming spend for Paramount’s streaming platforms.
“I do think sub growth in 2024 will be lower than 2023, though importantly I’d point out we do still expect very healthy Paramount+ revenue growth and, of course, revenue is the more important metric than subs,” Chopra said.
Here are some additional details and breakdowns
- Paramount posted first-quarter net earnings of $514 million, compared to a year-earlier net earnings at $21 million
- overall revenue down 12 percent to $7.63 billion
- Analysts forecast a loss of 1 cent and revenue of $7.84 billion for the fourth quarter.
- The studio posted a smaller streaming loss of $490 million, against a year-earlier $575 million loss
- The direct-to-consumer division saw advertising revenue rise 14 percent to $526 million on growth from Paramount+ and Pluto TV, and subscription revenue grew 43 percent to $1.33 billion.
- Paramount traditional TV revenue (MTV, Comedy Central and Nickelodeon) dropped by 12 percent to $5.16 billion in the latest quarter.
- TV advertising revenue fell 15 percent to $2.28 billion
- affiliate and subscription revenue dropped 1 percent to just over $2 billion.
- Paramount ‘s film studio division reported $647 million in revenue, down 31 percent from a year-earlier $936 million
