Paramount Global See Ad Boost From Super Bowl, Paramount+ Passes 71 Million Subs In Q1, ‘Mean Girls’ & ‘Bob Marley’ Buoy Studio

Paramount has just unleashed its first quarter financials with although all eyes are on a shakeup in  the C-suite. Revenue was higher across the board, albeit a hair shy of Wall Street expectations. Operating losses narrowed

After a bleak Q4, advertising jumped 17%, buoyed by Super Bowl XVIII on CBS in February. The studio had two winners in Mean Girls and Bob Marley: One Love. Paramount+ ended the quarter with more than 71 million subscribers, beating expectations and up from 65.7 million at the end of 2023.

The news hit just before that CEO Bob Bakish is departing, replaced for now with three division heads in a new office of the CEO amid drama-filled takeover talks with David Ellison’s Skydance.

The company has a conference call set for 4:30 ET.

Paramount said streaming losses narrowed to $288 million from $510 million in the year earlier quarter. The company has promised that streaming losses peaked in 2022 and that it expects the business to turn a profit domestically in 2025. It’s fourth in line in terms of subs among big streamers Netflix, Disney/Hulu and Max and would be the last to pull into the black – one of several reasons controlling shareholder Shari Redstone has been considering a deal. Skydance delivered what’s said to be its last and final offer for Paramount after a furious response by shareholders in recent weeks over the outlines of its first proposal.

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