Paramount+ And Pluto TV Ad Revenue Up 59% In Q1

Direct-to-consumer advertising revenue from year-old paid streamer Paramount+ and ad-supported streamer Pluto TV increased 59% year-over-year in the first quarter, to $347 million, Paramount Global reported in its earnings call on Tuesday.

The gain was driven by increased pricing and impressions for both services.

Year-old streaming service Paramount+ added 6.8 million subscribers in the quarter, to reach more than 62 million total, and grew subscription revenue by 95%, to $742 million.

The subscriber gain was driven by shows including “Star Trek Picard,” “Halo” and “1883,” as well as the NFL playoffs and other live events.

The company’s other paid streamers, including Showtime, BET Plus, Noggin and smaller international services, lost a combined total of under 1 million subscribers. Paramount attributed the decline to the timing of new programming.

Pluto TV’s monthly active users (MAUs) beat analysts’ expectation by rising to more than 68 million — up from 58 million and 64 million at the end of Q3 and Q4 2021, respectively.

Pluto TV’s viewing hours rose by double digits year-over-year, according to Paramount.

Total D2C revenue jumped 82% YoY, to nearly $1.1 billion.

But D2C expenses rose 107%, to $1.55 billion, due to increased investment in the streaming services, and adjusted OIBDA (operating income before depreciation and amortization) declined by $307 million, or 206%, to negative $456 million.

TV media advertising revenue decreased 13% year-over-year, to $2.52 billion, primarily reflecting an impact of 17 percentage points from the comparison against CBS’s broadcasts of Super Bowl LV in the prior-year quarter. Excluding the impact of the Super Bowl, TV media advertising revenue grew 4%.

Affiliate and subscription revenue grew 1%, to nearly $1.2 billion, as higher revenues from rate increases and expanded vMVPD distribution were somewhat offset by MVPD subscriber declines. Licensing revenue was flat, at $1 billion.

Over TV media revenue declined 6%, to $5.65 billion, and adjusted OIBD declined 13%.

Filmed entertainment revenue declined 27%, to $624 million, driven by lower licensing revenues, partially offset by the benefit of current quarter theatrical releases.

Theatrical revenue rose by $130 million, driven by hit first-quarter releases “Scream,” “Jackass Forever” and “The Lost City.” Q1 2021 was impacted by the closure or reduced capacity of movie theaters due to COVID.

Theatrical licensing and other revenue decreased 42%, to $491 million. Last year’s Q1 benefitted from the licensing of “Coming 2 America” and “Tom Clancy’s Without Remorse.”

Adjusted OIBDA declined $216M due to increased marketing expenses for theatrical releases.

Overall, Paramount Global saw revenue decline 1%, to $7.3 billion, operating income drop 49%, to $775 million, and diluted earnings per share decline 59%, to under $1 million.

Paramount Global CEO Bob Bakish said the company continues to benefit from its “differentiated playbook, including a broad content lineup, a streaming business model that spans ad-supported and subscription, and a global portfolio that links streaming with theatrical and television.”

Next story loading loading..