Paramount+ adds 9.9m subscribers, but weak ad revenue dents parent group

Yellowstone

Streaming platform Paramount+ added 9.9 million subscribers in Q4 2022 thanks to popular additions to its service such as blockbuster movie Top Gun: Maverick and Yellowstone. Reported as part of Paramount’s Q4, 2022 financial results, the platform grew revenues by 81% and reached a total of 56 million global subscribers.

Commenting, Paramount president and CEO Bob Bakish said: “Paramount continues to demonstrate the success of its global multiplatform strategy, with popular content at its core. Nowhere was this more evident than in the growth of Paramount+, driven by hit content like Top Gun: Maverick, 1923 and Criminal Minds: Evolution. Our content and platform strategy is working and, with even more exceptional content coming this year, we expect to return the company to earnings growth in 2024.”

Combined with Paramount’s other direct-to-consumer offerings, the company now has 77 million global subscribers. The company also pointed to the success of its AVOD/FAST platform Pluto TV, which added 6.5m global monthly active users (MAUs). This gives Pluto a total MAU content of around 79m.

Despite advances on the streaming front, Paramount’s performance was dented by a 7% drop in ad revenues in Q4, 2022. It has also been hit by impairment charges brought about by the ongoing integration of Showtime. As a result, it missed analyst expectations and saw its share price fall. For Q4 2022, Paramount reported total revenues of $8.1bn – of which the dtc business contributed around 17% ($1.39bn). The company used its earnings report to advise analysts that it is planning to increase Paramount+ subscriptions in some international markets during 2023.