In the final earnings report of Paramount’s decades-long ownership under the Redstone family, non-executive chair Shari Redstone touted the turnaround that co-CEOs George Cheeks, Chris McCarthy and Brian Robbins have executed at the company, while thanking employees and shareholders during what has been a tumultuous period for the entire media sector.
“Over many years, Paramount established itself as an enduring industry leader in media, news, and entertainment,” Redstone said in a statement. “Despite an increasingly challenging environment, the talented co-CEOs and teams across the Company have continued to strengthen and grow the business. As a testament to their success and driven by the power of exceptional content, we have seen the impressive growth of Paramount+, the ongoing leadership of CBS, and the continued stream of franchise growth at Paramount Pictures. At the same time, substantial progress has been made in streamlining the Company’s cost structure.”
“I am proud that when the Skydance transactions close we will be turning over a healthy business with a strong foundation for long-term growth and value creation,” Redstone added. “I will be forever grateful to the people of the Company and the shareholders who have supported us.”
Skydance’s acquisition of Paramount Global is expected to close on Aug. 7.
Paramount reported Q2 revenue of $6.85 billion, up 1 percent from a year ago, with $159 million of net operating cash flow and $114 million of free cash flow. Direct-to-consumer revenue soared by 15 percent year over year to $2.16 billion, with improvements in both watch time and churn. The company did say that Paramount+ lost 1.3 million subscribers, falling to 77.7 million, due to the expiration of a hard bundle offering in international markets.
“Our goal when we became co-CEOs was to transform Paramount into a streaming first company and today we are substantially better positioned with streaming revenue growth outpacing linear declines, driven by exceptional performance at Paramount+,” Cheeks, Robbins and McCarthy said in a joint statement. “We saw the largest viewership growth among all subscription services in the US, up 26% vs. the first half of 2024, driven by continued strong content at Paramount+ where we again had the most Top 10 SVOD Originals, behind only the market leader, and churn achieved a record low. CBS content drove nearly half of all viewing on Paramount+ and ranked as the most watched broadcast network for the 17th consecutive season. These impressive results are thanks to our talented teams and creative partners for whom we are very grateful for their continued creativity, dedication and hard work.”
The company’s TV media business, which includes CBS and the Paramount cable channels, saw its revenue fall by 6 percent to $4 billion, reflecting linear subscriber declines, and advertising softness.
The filmed entertainment business, including the Paramount studio, saw its revenues rise by 2 percent to $690 million, with theatrical revenue rising by 84% thanks to Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning, offset by a decline in licensing.
All eyes now turn to David Ellison and Skydance, who will take over the company next week, and will begin execute their own strategy with their own leadership team. Paramount Global will remain publicly traded, under the PSKY ticker on the NASDAQ exchange.