Paramount Global Q2 2025 Earnings Report

Paramount Global EPS Results

• Actual EPS: $0.46
• Consensus EPS: $0.37
• Beat/Miss: Beat by +$0.09
• One Year Ago EPS: $0.54

Paramount Global Revenue Results

• Actual Revenue: $6.85 billion
• Expected Revenue: $6.88 billion
• Beat/Miss: Missed by -$34.92 million
• YoY Revenue Growth: +0.50%

Paramount Global Announcement Details

• Quarter: Q2 2025
• Date: 7/31/2025
• Time: After Market Closes
• Conference Call Date: Thursday, July 31, 2025
• Conference Call Time: 4:30PM ET

Paramount Global (NASDAQ:PARA) operates as a media, streaming, and entertainment company worldwide. It operates through TV Media, Direct-to-Consumer, and Filmed Entertainment segments. The TV Media segment operates CBS Television Network, a domestic broadcast television network; CBS Stations, a television station; and international free-to-air networks comprising Network 10, Channel 5, Telefe, and Chilevisión; domestic premium and basic cable networks, such as Paramount+ with Showtime, MTV, Comedy Central, Paramount Network, The Smithsonian Channel, Nickelodeon, BET Media Group, and CBS Sports Network; and international extensions of these brands. This segment also offers domestic and international television studio operations, including CBS Studios, Paramount Television Studios, and Showtime/MTV Entertainment Studios; CBS Media Ventures, which produces and distributes first-run syndicated programming; and digital properties consisting of CBS News Streaming and CBS Sports HQ. The Direct-to-Consumer segment provides a portfolio of domestic and international pay and free streaming services, including Paramount+, Pluto TV, BET+, and Noggin. The Filmed Entertainment segment produces and acquires films, series, and short-form content for release and licensing around the world, including in theaters, on streaming services, on television, through digital home entertainment, and DVDs/Blu-rays; and operates a portfolio consisting of Paramount Pictures, Paramount Players, Paramount Animation, Nickelodeon Studio, Awesomeness, and Miramax. It also offers production, distribution, and advertising solutions. The company was formerly known as ViacomCBS Inc. and changed its name to Paramount Global in February 2022. The company was founded in 1914 and is headquartered in New York, New York. Paramount Global is a subsidiary of National Amusements, Inc.

Paramount Global Q2 2025 Earnings Call Transcript

Key Takeaways

• Positive Sentiment: Paramount+ reached 77.7 million subscribers in Q2, adding 9.3 million year-over-year and driving a 23% increase in streaming revenue.
• Positive Sentiment: The company’s “volume of original hits” content strategy delivered the second-most top-10 SVOD originals behind the market leader, boosting engagement and lowering churn.
• Negative Sentiment: Linear TV media faced continued pressure with advertising revenue down 4% and affiliate fees down 7% year-over-year amid viewership declines.
• Negative Sentiment: Filmed Entertainment revenue rose 2% to $690 million, but adjusted OIBDA losses widened to $84 million from $54 million due to lower licensing profits.
• Positive Sentiment: Paramount implemented over $800 million in annual run-rate cost savings on non-content expenses, contributing to 30% OIBDA growth and stronger free cash flow.

Presentation

[Operator]

Good afternoon. My name is Victoria, and I'll be the conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to Paramount Global's Second Quarter twenty twenty five Earnings Conference Call. All lines have been muted to prevent any background noise. At this time, I would now like to turn the call over to Jamie Morris, Paramount Global's EVP, Investor Relations. You may now begin your conference call.

[Jaime Morris, Executive Vice President of Investor Relations at Paramount Global]

Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining our Q2 twenty twenty five earnings call. Before we begin, I would like to remind everyone that in addition to our earnings release, we have trending schedules containing supplemental information available on our website. In addition, certain statements made on this call are forward looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. These risks and uncertainties are discussed in more detail in our filings with the SEC. Some of today's financial remarks will focus on adjusted results.

[Jaime Morris, Executive Vice President of Investor Relations at Paramount Global]

Reconciliations of these non GAAP financial measures can be found in our earnings release or in our trending schedules, which contain supplemental information and in each case can be found in the Investor Relations section of our website. As we detailed in the eight ks filed last week, we expect the Paramount Skydance transaction to close on 08/07/2025. As a result, this will be our last earnings call with the company in its current configuration. Today, we will share highlights of the quarter, but we will not be taking questions. On this call, we have Sherry Redstone, Non Executive Chair of our Board of Directors Chris McCarthy, our co CEO on behalf of his fellow co CEOs and Andy Warren, our Interim CFO. Now let me turn the call over to Shari.

[Shari Redstone, Non-Executive Chair at Paramount Global]

Thank you, Jamie. Given this is the final earnings call under our current corporate structure, I wanted to take the opportunity to express my thanks to our shareholders for their investment in our business and to the others across the investment community who have followed us for many years. I believe I can take it on faith that many on this call understand the enormous importance of this business to my family and to me. Beginning nearly forty years ago, my father, Sumner Redstone, built Viacom and CBS by bringing together a group of the best assets in media, news, and entertainment. While people often debated whether content or distribution ruled the day, my father's steadfast belief was that content was king.

[Shari Redstone, Non-Executive Chair at Paramount Global]

Even against the backdrop of enormous change, that core business philosophy remains the reality for our business and industry. That is a reality that Skydance surely understands. I am confident that with their vision for the business and the technology and resources they can bring to bear, they can build on Paramount's legacy and position it for long term success and value creation. I am proud that when the transaction closes, we will be turning over a healthy business with a strong foundation for success. One year ago, that was not a foregone against the backdrop of tough industry conditions in the linear business in a pending transaction.

[Shari Redstone, Non-Executive Chair at Paramount Global]

The progress we have made is a testament to the talent, focus, and dedication of the people of Paramount, under the leadership of George Cheeks, Chris McCarthy, and Brian Robbins. George, Chris, and Brian took on a very challenging job. While continuing to lead in their core areas of responsibility, they worked together to develop new content and strategic plans for the company while also making difficult decisions to streamline the company's cost structure and secure the stability and growth potential of the business. I will forever be grateful for their hard work, dedication and friendship. While Chris will go into more detail about the company's financial results on this call, I would be remiss not to mention a few of the co CEOs' accomplishments and those of the wonderful teams across our business.

[Shari Redstone, Non-Executive Chair at Paramount Global]

I will start with streaming because it makes me so proud that while we only launched Paramount plus four years ago, we are already a top four global SVOD service, and we will be profitable in The US faster than many of our peers. What has driven this performance? Others might have more content. But Paramount plus has distinguished itself for delivering big, bold, breakthrough original scripted hits that consistently rank in the SVOD top 10, plus incredible sports, kids, and unscripted content from across the company. And as I am particularly proud, programming that informs and educates audiences about the issues we face as a society and around the world.

[Shari Redstone, Non-Executive Chair at Paramount Global]

This is also the reason CBS has been the number one broadcast network for seventeen years in a row, due also to its range of entertainment, sports, and news programming. And in cable, the company has delivered the number one scripted series, number one reality series, number one late night show, and number one kids show. As for Paramount Pictures, it has continued to expand its hit franchises, Sonic the Hedgehog, Mission Impossible, A Quiet Place, SpongeBob, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and more. Taken together, this has driven improved bottom line performance and strengthened free cash flow. In closing, it has truly been a privilege to work with George, Chris and Brian over the past year to achieve the goals that have positioned this company so well for the future.

[Shari Redstone, Non-Executive Chair at Paramount Global]

And while it is never easy to step away, please know that it's been an honor for my family and for me to serve as stewards of these assets over the past several decades. We will always be cheering on Paramount and the talented people who have made it what it is today. Thank you.

[Chris McCarthy, Co-CEO at Paramount Global]

Thank you, Sherri, and good afternoon, everyone. When George, Brian, and I became co CEOs, our goal was to transform Paramount into a streaming first company and today we are substantially better positioned to thrive in the streaming future. You only have to look to this quarter to see the shift where D2C revenue growth outpaced linear declines. This was powered by an exceptional performance at Paramount plus We delivered industry leading TV hits across both streaming and linear while at the same time this quarter breaking a record with the Mission Impossible franchise. At Paramount plus we made a content strategy choice to go against conventional wisdom of more originals is better.

[Chris McCarthy, Co-CEO at Paramount Global]

Our strategy isn't about the volume of originals, rather it's about the volume of original hits. We closed 2024, our first year as co CEOs, and it was a transformative year. OIBDA grew 30% to $3,100,000,000 driven by a nearly $1,200,000,000 improvement in D2C profitability. Now this was powered by Paramount plus where our content strategy delivered. We led with the most top 10 SVOD originals behind only the market leader, which drove increased engagement, improved churn.

[Chris McCarthy, Co-CEO at Paramount Global]

We added 10,000,000 new subscribers which solidified our place as a top four SVOD and resulting in revenue growth of 33%. Now since then we have not slowed down. In the 2025 we again scored with the most top 10 SVOD originals behind only the market leader. Paramount plus revenue continued to grow up 19% driven by strong subscription revenue growth of 22%. Watch time per subscriber increased 14% and churn improved another 100 basis points.

[Chris McCarthy, Co-CEO at Paramount Global]

Over at CBS, we continued our leadership position as the most watched broadcast network in primetime for the seventeenth consecutive season. We have eight of the top 10 series, 14 of the top 20 series. That's more programs in the top 10 and top 20 than all other networks combined. Paramount Pictures continue to drive revenue for the business, successfully monetizing the value of our IP in theaters and downstream. Over this past year, we added new installments of our valuable bank of franchises, including Sonic the Hedgehog, Smile, A Quiet Place, and Mission Impossible.

[Chris McCarthy, Co-CEO at Paramount Global]

We also reshaped the organization to be leaner and more nimble, reducing redundancies, all with the goal to drive productivity. Over the past four quarters, we've implemented over 800,000,000 in annual run rate non content expense savings. Our progress is reflected in the results for the quarter. Total company revenue grew 1% year over year to $6,800,000,000 Most notably, D2C revenue growth outpaced linear declines. In fact, strong subscription growth at Paramount plus drove total company affiliate and subscription revenue growth, which accelerated to 5%.

[Chris McCarthy, Co-CEO at Paramount Global]

D2C generated adjusted OIBDA of $157,000,000 an improvement of 6x versus a year ago. To put that in perspective, this year alone we've improved D2C profitability by $300,000,000 versus the comparable period a year ago. Now let's get into some detail at D2C. Revenue growth accelerated to 15% driven again by Paramount plus where total revenue grew 23% year over year and records were set. For the third consecutive quarter, watch time per subscriber increased and was up 11% year over year and churn improved again by 70 basis points year over year, achieving a record low.

[Chris McCarthy, Co-CEO at Paramount Global]

These results were powered by a strong content slate of original hits with Landmen, Yellowjackets, The Shy, and Mobland, our newest top 10 SVOD series, which ranked as the number one series globally and active subscriber households on Paramount plus this quarter. Looking ahead, we're thrilled to welcome South Park to Paramount plus this month here in The United States. It has consistently been a top acquisition and engagement driver in international and we have every confidence it will do just as well for us here in The US. We have our biggest hits to come kicking off with Dexter Resurrection followed by the first NCIS franchise extension with Tony and Ziva and continues with the nonstop Taylor Sheridan slate of hits starting with Tulsa King in September, Mayor of Kingstown in October, followed by Landman in December and of course an all new Yellowstone franchise extension, the Dutton Ranch. Now turning to TV media, when we talk about transforming into a streaming first company, nothing says it better than the alignment with CBS and Paramount plus This season, streaming of CBS series on Paramount plus grew 42% over the last year, and year to date CBS content accounts for nearly half of all viewing on Paramount plus CBS has consistently ranked as the number one broadcast network in primetime, and moreover, CBS is also ranked number one in multi platform viewership.

[Chris McCarthy, Co-CEO at Paramount Global]

Now turning to sports, live sports more valuable today than ever before across both platforms. This year's Final Four was the most watched in eight years and CBS Sports Golf coverage in 2025 is up 13% year over year, its best performance in seven years. The power of this combined content is evident across distribution and advertising. In June, we signed a new deal with DIRECTV that includes a curated selection of Paramount's most popular networks across entertainment, news, and sports in various direct TV genre packs. And we're nearing the completion of our upfront where we see strong advertiser demand for sports and entertainment programming.

[Chris McCarthy, Co-CEO at Paramount Global]

Turning to filmed entertainment, this quarter a record was achieved with The Final Reckoning, which was the biggest global opening in franchise history. When a new film hits theaters, we see an immediate lift in the library content on Paramount plus For example, following the release of Mission Impossible The Final Reckoning for the month, the Mission franchise library saw a 60% lift in daily active subscriber households on Paramount plus Now this is a good example of how franchise drive revenue across every part of our business. We are pleased with the results for the quarter, which represent our strong and continued progress in executing as a streaming first company. Now, let me turn it over to Andy to provide more detail on the financials.

[Andrew Warren, EVP & Interim CFO at Paramount Global]

Thank you, Chris, and good afternoon, everyone. Let's dive right into the second quarter numbers. Paramount generated total company revenue of $6,800,000,000 and adjusted OIBDA of $824,000,000 reflecting continued year over year improvement in our direct to consumer segment. Total improved $214,000,000 including approximately $70,000,000 in payments for restructuring and cost reduction initiatives. Now, let's discuss our operating segment results, starting with direct to consumer.

[Andrew Warren, EVP & Interim CFO at Paramount Global]

Paramount plus finished the quarter with 77,700,000 subscribers, a year over year increase of 9,300,000 subscribers, but down 1,300,000 subs versus 1Q twenty five, primarily reflecting the anticipated expiration of an international distribution agreement, as well as the timing of Paramount plus Premier's. Paramount plus ARPU growth accelerated in the second quarter to a positive 9% increase year over year. Importantly, the combination of year over year subscriber growth, churn reduction and ARPU improvement drove Paramount plus revenue to increase nearly $330,000,000 versus 2Q 'twenty four. In total, direct to consumer generated revenue of $2,200,000,000 growing 15% year over year despite a 4% decline in DTC advertising, which continues to be impacted by increased supply in the digital ad marketplace. Separately, DTC subscription revenue growth accelerated and was up a robust 22%.

[Andrew Warren, EVP & Interim CFO at Paramount Global]

Turning to our TV media segment, linear TV trends continue to pressure advertising and affiliate revenue. TV media revenue was $4,000,000,000 in the second quarter, with OIBDA of $863,000,000 TV media advertising revenue was down 4% year over year, as higher CPMs were more than offset by viewership declines. We are nearing completion of our 2026 upfront, which will remain overall volume consistent with last year, driven by increased sports and streaming sales. Streaming accounted for almost 30% of total upfront volume, while demand for our sports portfolio was very strong across the board and saw double digit growth. Our TV media affiliate revenue declined 7% versus the prior year, largely reflecting market subscriber trends.

[Andrew Warren, EVP & Interim CFO at Paramount Global]

However, and more importantly, the combination of our traditional and streaming businesses again yielded net positive growth, with total company affiliate and subscription revenue up 5% in the second quarter, a positive acceleration versus the first quarter of this year. Lastly, in the Filmed Entertainment segment, we generated second quarter revenue of $690,000,000 up 2% year over year. Adjusted OIBDA was a loss of $84,000,000 in the quarter, which compares to a loss of $54,000,000 in this year ago quarter. This year over year change in OIBDA primarily reflects lower profit from licensing. Regarding forward looking statements, as you can appreciate, with the Skydance transaction closing on August 7, it would be inappropriate for us to outline full year 2025 financial expectations for Paramount standalone results.

[Andrew Warren, EVP & Interim CFO at Paramount Global]

In summary, our first half results demonstrate that our global teams remain focused on operating execution as we prepare for the deal to close. Now, let's turn the call back over to Chris for closing comments.

[Chris McCarthy, Co-CEO at Paramount Global]

As this will be our last earnings call, before we close the Skydance transaction, allow me to take a moment on behalf of my co CEOs, Brian and George, to thank the people responsible for our successful shift into a streaming first company. To our teams, our partners, the board, and to Sherry, thank you for your support and efforts. We talk a lot about hit TV series and blockbuster films. That doesn't happen in our content teams without the support and hard work and efforts from every person in every department across the entire company. Against enormous headwinds and challenges, this team continued to be resilient and unwavering in your commitment to execute with excellence and more importantly to support each other with compassion.

[Chris McCarthy, Co-CEO at Paramount Global]

It's that combination that truly made the difference. You should be very proud of all of your efforts. They've helped to make Paramount substantially stronger today. We'd also like to thank the Redstone family for their stewardship of the company over the last forty years. Sumner Redstone was a visionary who predicted where the industry was going before anyone else.

[Chris McCarthy, Co-CEO at Paramount Global]

Under Sherri's leadership, Paramount has transitioned from a disconnected collection of TD assets into a streaming first company with a powerful portfolio of hit content and franchises. Now, the naysayers and against all the odds, Sherry, you did what you thought was right. You pushed us forward with the mission to combine these companies and just look at what we've achieved. While we're the last to launch, only four years later, Paramount plus is a top four global SVOD service. Your vision has been realized.

[Chris McCarthy, Co-CEO at Paramount Global]

And what made that possible was content being king, hit TV series and blockbuster films just as your father had predicted. We thank you, Sherri, for your vision to see where it was all going and your leadership of the company and on a personal level for your friendship to all of us. And to our board, thank you for your dedication and guidance. Throughout a very eventful year, we appreciate each and every one of you. Now looking ahead under David Ellison, the next chapter of Paramount is sure to be another historic one.

[Chris McCarthy, Co-CEO at Paramount Global]

We'd like to thank David and the Skydance Redbird teams of Jeff Schell, Amy Gordon and Cindy Holland for their partnership throughout this transition. We are excited to see what you do and you have a great team here to help you. With that, thank you for joining us and have a good night.

[Operator]

That concludes today's call. Thank you for your participation and enjoy the rest of your day.

Participants

Executives

• Jaime Morris, Executive Vice President of Investor Relations
• Shari Redstone, Non-Executive Chair
• Chris McCarthy, Co-CEO
• Andrew Warren, EVP & Interim CFO