Similar to Warner Bros. Discovery's results of the day before, Paramount Global took a massive writedown in the second quarter of $6 billion due to a lower valuation of its TV networks.

For Paramount it was a “goodwill impairment” charge for its cable networks, triggered due to lower implied valuation from the Skydance Media deal yet to be closed.

In line with this action, Paramount’s TV networks advertising revenue witnessed an 11% decline during the period. Affiliate and subscription revenue fell 5% from continued cord-cutting trends. Overall TV network revenue sank to $4.3 billion.

Still, the company expects advertising declines to abate for the rest of the year because of new TV season programs and rising political advertising. But affiliate fee/subscription declines are estimated to widen -- down 7%, according to Guggenheim Securities. 

The company’s direct-to-consumer (D2C) business revenue climbed 13% to $1.9 billion during the period, and advertising was up 16% to $513 million from higher viewing hours at Paramount+ and Pluto TV  and higher cost-per-thousand viewer pricing paid by advertisers. Subscription revenue grew 12% to $1.4 billion. 

All D2C second-quarter revenue results registered lower growth rates versus the previous first-quarter period, which had a 24% hike in overall revenue, 22% higher for subscription and 31% higher for advertising. 

Paramount+ revenue grew 46% in the quarter, and it added 2.8 million subscribers to total 68 million. Global average monthly revenue per user was up 26%.

Upfront TV advertising deals -- which are typically placed for the upcoming TV season, from September to the following August -- posted flat linear dollar volume versus a year ago, with higher "blended" cost-per-thousand viewer (CPM) prices resulting from sports and broadcast programming, according to the company. Digital upfront ad commitments totaled more than $1 billion.

Filmed entertainment revenue sank 18% to $679 million due to timing of theatrical releases.

The combined results for all of Paramount businesses showed advertising revenues sinking 6% to $2.3 billion, subscription/affiliate revenues flat at $3.2 billion and licensing revenues down 35% to $1.1 billion.

On Wednesday, Paramount Global competitor Warner Bros. Discovery took a $9.1 billion goodwill impairment charge due to declining value at its linear TV networks.

Paramount Global stock closed down 2.4% on Thursday and 5.4% lower in after-market trading to $10.21.

This story has been updated.