The numbers
$49 million — Paramount notched an operating profit of just $49 million—barely above breakeven—but it’s the second quarter in a row of profitability for the network.
$6.73 billion — Paramount netted a total of $6.73 billion in sales, which was short of the estimated $6.94 billion it was anticipated to bring in and down from the $7.13 billion it brought in this quarter last year.
72 million — Paramount added 3.5 million new subscribers to Paramount+, bringing its total to 72 million. The tally keeps Paramount+ the fifth-largest streaming service, behind Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney+, and Max.
6% — TV revenue fell 6% in Paramount’s third-quarter earnings, a casualty of lower affiliate revenue and fluctuations in licensing revenue, according to the company.
The watercooler talk
While the financial results are worth noting, the primary storyline concerning Paramount is the state of its ongoing acquisition by Skydance Media, which is expected to close in the first half of 2025.
The company in August promised to cut 15% of its workforce in order to find cost savings and bring its balance sheet into tidier shape ahead of the merger.
The acquisition was a monthlong, dramatic affair, and a new financial release shared this week adds further color to its contours. As first reported in Puck, on the road to its eventual acquisition by David Ellison’s Skydance, Paramount also entertained serious offers from Warner Bros. Discovery and Comcast.
Activity in the M&A market looks to be on the rise under the newly elected presidential administration, so there may still be more to come next year as the new company looks to fill out its portfolio.
The key quote
“As we said before, we are evaluating potential partnerships and streaming through a lens of creating value for the business and our shareholders over the long term,” said co-chief executive Brian Robbins.
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