As it prepares for a 2025 merger with Skydance Media, Paramount Global revealed a sustained streaming loss in its fourth-quarter financial reports on Wednesday.
The big studio’s direct-to-consumer (DTC) division, which includes Paramount+, Pluto TV, and BET+, announced a $286 million loss yesterday. This is a significant improvement over the $490 million loss in Q4 2023. Even while the difference is closing, the loss still highlights how difficult it is for big studios to turn a profit with streaming in 2025.
Compared to 2023’s larger deficit, Paramount’s DTC business reduced its streaming loss by $1.2 billion for the entire year, to $497 million. With the help of hits like Landman, Tulsa King, and Lioness, Paramount+ fueled a large portion of this growth, adding 5.6 million subscribers in Q4 (up from 3.5 million in Q3) to reach over 77.5 million total subscribers. Although revenue increased 5% to $7.98 billion from $7.63 billion, the company’s Q4 net loss of $224 million was a sharp reversal from the $514 million net earnings of the previous year. Operating income decreased from $404 million to $129 million, although the per-share loss dropped from 77 cents to 33 cents, indicating a difficult quarter that was offset by strategic gains.
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Despite content timing causing growth to stall in Q1 2025, DTC revenues increased 8% to $2.01 billion, driven by cost reductions and subscriber growth. Despite a lift from political commercials, TV media revenues fell 4% to $4.98 billion, driven by fewer CBS sports events and lower linear ad sales. With revenues rising 67% to $1.08 billion, the cinematic entertainment division was the most successful, driven by the box office hits Gladiator II and Sonic the Hedgehog 3. During a post-market call, co-CEO Brian Robbins informed analysts, “We continue to focus on franchise growth and management, capitalizing on Paramount’s rich library and IP, across the business—film, television, and streaming.”
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Together with George Cheeks and Chris McCarthy, Robbins released a statement saying, “We’re proud of the transformative year we delivered since becoming co-CEOs.” “An outstanding year at Paramount+, where we added 10 million new subscribers and delivered a 33% increase in revenue, drove a $1.2 billion improvement in DTC profitability in 2024.” This assurance supports their 2025 domestic profitability prediction for Paramount+, which is a crucial objective as Paramount, which is owned by Shari Redstone’s National Amusements, approaches its earlier-announced Skydance acquisition.
The findings come as the landscape is changing. Although its $497 million yearly DTC loss, though better, illustrates the expense of the shift, Cable TV’s 2024 loss of more than 5 million customers emphasizes the necessity of Paramount’s streaming pivot. With Skydance preparing to take over, Paramount’s Q4 results highlight a corporation at a crossroads: it is betting on a leaner, digital-first identity for the future while relying on theatrical wins and streaming growth to offset linear drops. As the acquisition approaches, experts and investors will be keenly monitoring Paramount’s streaming trajectory, which is a crucial indicator of its future after the merger.
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