Paramount Q2 profit falls to $41M as TV ad revenue drops 14%, streaming grows
Net earnings at Paramount Skydance dropped to $41 million in the second quarter, down from $57 million a year earlier, even as total revenue rose 1% to $6.91 billion. The TV division, still the company's largest segment, posted a 9% revenue decline to $3.12 billion, with ad sales down 14% on tough comparisons to last year's NCAA advertising and distribution fees down 6% as linear subscriptions kept eroding. Streaming revenue rose 9% overall, with Paramount+ up 16% on FIFA World Cup and UFC broadcasts and 2 million new subscribers, more than the company expected. CEO David Ellison told shareholders the upfront produced "double-digit growth in commitments across the company" and said Paramount remains confident its delayed acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery will close despite recent legal setbacks.
The scale of the shift matters for planning: a 14% drop in TV ad revenue in a single quarter at one of the largest broadcasters shows how fast linear dollars keep moving toward streaming and digital inventory. Agencies building upfront and scatter budgets will read Paramount's double-digit streaming growth alongside its own forecast of moderating but still-present TV declines as another signal to keep shifting spend toward streaming and connected TV, while the pending Warner Bros. Discovery deal adds uncertainty to how future ad inventory and measurement get packaged.