Paramount Captures Small Q2 Profit Ahead of Sale to Skydance

Paramount Global squeezed out a small profit in its last quarter before an anticipated sale to Skydance Media, boosted in part by new subscriptions to the Paramount+ streaming service amid a period in which traditional revenue from advertising and cable distribution fell.

The New York owner of CBS, the Paramount movie studio and cable networks like Comedy Central and Nickelodeon said revenue increased 1% to nearly $6.85 billion, compared with $6.81 billion in the year-earlier quarter. The company swung to a small profit in the quarter, 8 cents per share, compared with a year-earlier loss of $8.12 per share, when Paramount took a $6 billion one-time impairment charge associated with the value of its cable networks.

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A sale to Skydance Media is expected to close around August 7, ending control of Paramount by the Redstone family, led now by Shari Redstone, daughter of the executive who put the company together, Sumner Redstone. Shari Redstone hoped to find new traction in the media sector by combining the two companies her family controlled — CBS and Viacom. Instead, Viacom’s massive cable portfolio has been diminished by the move of consumers to streaming video. And while advertisers and viewers still invest time and money in CBS, Redstone set cable executives over the CBS senior team — a move that likely hurt the consolidated Paramount more than it helped.

In a statement, Redstone praised Paramount’s ability to make “substantial progress” in streamlining operations while driving new growth at Paramount+. She said she believed Paramount still had “a strong foundation for long-term growth” ahead of it.

Paramount said revenue in its largest operational engine, traditional TV, fell 6% to $4 billion, crimped by a 4% decrease in ad sales and a tumble of 7% from linear distribution. Revenue from direct to consumer and streaming operations rose 15% to $2.16 billion, owing to a 22% increase in subscription revenue,

Revenue from Paramount’s movie business rose 2% to $690 million, due in large part to the release of the latest installment of Tom Cruise’s “Mission: Impossible” franchise.

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