Paramount's Redstone: Skydance Taking Over a Healthy Company
Skydance Media understands that content is "king," Paramount Global Chairwoman Shari Redstone said Thursday as the company announced its Q2 financial results. Paramount's final quarterly earnings call was largely a victory lap after the market's close, with company executives thanking their teams, shareholders and one another. Skydance's purchase of Paramount is expected to close Thursday (see 2507280007). Redstone said Skydance is taking over a healthy Paramount -- something that wasn't a necessarily the expectation a year ago, given woes in linear programming. Revenue for the quarter was $6.8 billion, up 1% year over year.
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Co-CEO Chris McCarthy said streaming revenue growth outpaced linear declines in the most recent quarter. The company said it ended the quarter with 77.7 million Paramount Plus subscribers, up 9.3% year over year but down compared with Q1. Interim CFO Andy Warren said streaming advertising was off 4%, reflecting increased supply in the digital ad marketplace. Linear TV trends continue to pressure advertising and affiliate earnings, he said, noting that TV advertising revenue was down 4% year over year.