TV isn’t what it used to be. Join the Convergent TV Summit in LA this October 25 with media, technology and marketing leaders to prepare for new trends and make industry connections.
As the writers and actors strikes continue to disrupt the entertainment industry, Paramount added a modest 700,000 subscribers to its main streaming service, Paramount+, the company announced during an earnings call this evening.
The gain is far smaller than the 4.1 million subscribers it added last quarter; however, along with the additions, the company’s subscription revenue rose 47%, and Paramount hit 61 million subscribers total.
For the quarter, streaming losses fell to $424 million—down from $511 million in the first quarter. And overall, the company said revenue for its streaming operations (which includes AVOD service Pluto) is up 40%.
Regarding the falling subscription adds, CFO Naveen Chopra said the decline is due to “seasonal softness” as well as a “strategic shift” in content release strategy to “better align with the launch of Paramount+ and Showtime.”
In June, Paramount officially debuted Paramount+ with Showtime, which the company expects to generate $700 million in expense savings. The tier launch came with price increases in both the existing premium Paramount+ tier and its essential tier.
Subscriber growth is expected to be higher in the second half of the year, but the third quarter will see a dip of just over a million subscribers due to a restructuring of a Latin America bundle deal.
Ad sales are up
Following Paramountclosingitsupfronttalks, CEO Bob Bakish said revenue gains came from improvements in digital advertising on Paramount+ and Pluto, though linear TV sales still struggled with a soft market.