Discovery Posts Gains in Streaming Subs, Revenues

Discovery, Inc. ended 2021 with 22 million paying direct-to-consumer subscribers and full-year revenues of $12.2 billion, a 14 percent gain.

“2021 was by all measures an exceptional year for our company, in which we achieved significant operational, financial and strategic objectives,” said David Zaslav, president and CEO. “We grew our global DTC paying subscribers to 22 million, a tailwind for our strong distribution revenue growth of 11 percent, while global advertising revenues grew 10 percent due to continued strength in our key markets and share gains. Additionally, we ended the year with nearly $4 billion of cash on hand and generated robust cash flows, supporting our ability to invest in growth initiatives. Further, the successful recent broadcast of our second Winter Olympic Games across Europe, on the heels of
our first broadcast of the Summer Olympic Games, underscores one of our key differentiators: in-language and locally relevant content. All of which position us well to take advantage of the remarkable opportunities ahead for Warner Bros. Discovery, which we believe will be among the world’s most dynamic media companies.” The WarnerMedia merger is expected to close in Q2, Zaslav said.

In Q4, the company posted revenues of $3.2 billion, a 10 percent year-on-year improvement, while net profit plummeted to $38 million. U.S. revenues totaled $2 billion, a 14 percent gain, lifted by a 17 percent boost in distribution revenues to $832 million and a 5 percent gain in ad revenues to $1.1 billion. International revenues were up 5 percent to $1.2 billion—8 percent on a constant currency basis, with ad revenues rising to $607 million and distribution revenues up to $520 million.