Paramount reported its earnings results for the third quarter this morning, citing growth in global streaming subscribers. The company’s flagship streaming service, Paramount+, saw a slight increase of 2.7 million subscribers in Q3, bringing the total to 46 million, up from 43.3 million in the second quarter when Paramount+ experienced a net add of 3.7 million subscribers. The streamer would have added 4.6 million subscribers if it weren’t for SkyShowtime replacing Paramount+ in the Nordics.
Paramount’s free ad-supported streaming service, Pluto TV, gained 2.4 monthly active users to reach a total of 72 million.
Across Paramount’s direct-to-consumer services– Paramount +, Pluto TV, Showtime, Noggin and BET+ — the company reached nearly 67 million global subs, a considerable jump from 63.7 million last quarter.
Despite subscriber growth, Paramount’s stock was down nearly 9% pre-market trading this Wednesday, November 2 as the company’s overall third-quarter revenue of $6.92 billion missed Wall Street expectations of $7.03 billion.
Paramount’s streaming unit reported Q3 revenue growth of 38% year-over-year to $1.23 billion as subscription revenue jumped 59% year-over-year to $863 million. Advertising revenue jumped 4% to $363 million and Paramount+ revenue rose 95% year-over-year.
Adjusted operating income before depreciation and amortization (OIBDA) showed a loss that widened from $198 million to $343 million due to “investments in content, marketing and international expansion,” the company wrote in its letter to shareholders.
This year, Paramount+ has secured multiple partnerships to look for more streaming subscribers as it tries to compete with streaming giants like Netflix, Disney+ and HBO Max. The streamer teamed up with Walmart to give Walmart+ members access to a Paramount+ subscription. The streaming service also joined The Roku Channel as a premium subscription.
Yesterday, Paramount+ was one of the 30 streaming services to be added to YouTube’s new “Primetime Channels” feature.
Paramount+ reaches 46M global subscribers in Q3, but stock drops ~9% on revenue miss by Lauren Forristal originally published on TechCrunch
