Paramount sees streaming gains as company continues to pursue Warner Bros. Discovery

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Paramount Skydance is focusing heavily on growing its streaming service, and recent positive results from Paramount+ contributed to a strong fourth quarter for the company in 2025.

Paramount announced $8.1 billion in revenue for the last three months of 2023, a 2% increase compared to the same period last year. This growth was driven by a strong performance in streaming, with revenue up 10% to $2.2 billion, and gains in filmed entertainment, which brought in $1.3 billion – a 16% increase year-over-year.

The company’s TV media business, however, had a tougher quarter.

Okay, so looking at the numbers, that part of the business brought in $4.7 billion, which is a bit of a drop – about 5% down from last year. Honestly, it’s not super surprising; traditional TV is just losing viewers. Paramount also said ad revenue was down around 10%, and a couple of things hit that number. Political ad spending was lower this year, and they didn’t have the Big 10 championship game like they did in 2024, which definitely made a difference.

Hollywood Inc.

This weekend, President Trump warned Netflix that they would face repercussions if they didn’t remove Susan Rice from their board of directors.

Paramount experienced an operating loss of $339 million, largely due to $546 million in costs associated with its merger with Skydance last year. This resulted in a loss of 52 cents per share, which is higher than the 33-cent loss per share from the same period last year.

CEO David Ellison highlighted the company’s achievements during his time leading it, explaining that investments in areas like the film studio, original shows, UFC, and improvements to Paramount+’s streaming service and advertising are expected to drive growth in the future.

During a call with analysts on Wednesday, he stated the team has made significant progress in the last six months and expects that progress to speed up soon.

Okay, so Paramount just laid out their expectations for 2026, and they’re aiming for $30 billion in revenue. That’s a solid 4% jump from where they’ll be in 2025. What’s really interesting is where they see that growth coming from – it’s all about streaming. While their movie and TV production side will contribute, streaming is definitely going to be the star player here. It feels like they’re doubling down on that business, and it’ll be fascinating to see if it pays off.

Executives at the company wouldn’t comment on questions regarding their attempt to buy Warner Bros. Discovery.

Paramount briefly addressed the potential merger in a letter to investors, stating they are optimistic about their current path but believe combining with Warner would speed up their progress and create significant financial benefits for their shareholders.

Paramount increased its offer to buy Warner Bros. Discovery stock on Monday, raising its bid to $31 per share. They had previously offered $30 per share.

I was surprised to learn that the company had agreed to pay Warner a hefty $7 billion if the deal fell through due to regulatory issues. That’s a significant jump from their original commitment of $5 billion – a $2 billion increase! It shows how much they really want this deal to go through, but also how seriously they’re preparing for the possibility it might not.

Paramount has confirmed it will pay the $2.8 billion fee Warner would have to pay Netflix if they cancel their agreement.

Paramount announced it will start paying shareholders a quarterly fee of $0.25 beginning after September 30th, continuing until the deal with Warner Bros. Discovery is finalized. Additionally, Paramount agreed to cover up to $1.5 billion in financing costs related to Warner’s plans to refinance its debt.

Paramount also stated it would provide extra funding if needed to ensure PSKY remains financially stable, as required by its lenders. This commitment was made because Warner Bros. board members were worried Paramount might struggle to secure enough money to complete the large acquisition.

As a film and TV fan, I’ve been following the potential Warner acquisition closely, and honestly, the latest earnings reports are a little worrying. Analyst John Conca from Third Bridge pointed out in an email that the company’s own TV business isn’t doing so great right now, which makes me question if they’re really in a strong position to buy Warner.

He questioned the logic of leadership’s strong push for the [Warner] deal, arguing it would significantly increase the company’s investment in struggling traditional TV networks and create major challenges when combining the two businesses.

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2026-02-26 03:01