Paramount Shares ‘Early Indicator’ for TV Upfront Performance

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The numbers

79 million — Paramount+ global subscribers, up 11% year over year, with 1.5 million adds in the quarter.

-6% — Total company revenue (excluding Super Bowl LVIII, revenue grew 2%).

16% — Paramount+ revenue increase year over year.

-19% — Ad revenue decrease resulting from the absence of the Super Bowl. Without the Super Bowl, revenue was flat.

The watercooler talk

Paramount came into its Q1 earnings call riding high on CBS winning its 17th consecutive broadcast season and Paramount+ growing to nearly 80 million subscribers. Company executives also shared that they hadn’t seen a meaningful impact from the current macroeconomic uncertainty. However, the company is still prioritizing key investments and taking “incremental steps” to streamline noncontent expenses.

The company is in the midst of its upfront dinners, and executives shared that they felt positive about where discussions were heading. According to Paramount Global co-CEO Chris McCarthy, the scatter market in the current quarter was up double-digits, which he noted has “always been a really interesting early indicator” for the upfront.

The key quote

“Listen, macro is certainly on people’s minds, but everyone is giving us great feedback,” McCarthy said of Paramount’s upfront discussions. “We continue to hear good things, particularly around the unique set of assets and the volume of hits and the really strong sports portfolio.”