Streaming, Ad Gains Drive ViacomCBS Results

With ad revenues bouncing back and gains in its streaming business, ViacomCBS’s second-quarter revenues were up 8 percent to $6.6 billion.

“In a quarter of strong business performance, including growth in advertising and affiliate, streaming was a standout,” said Bob Bakish, president and CEO. “We continued to accelerate our global streaming momentum and delivered phenomenal results across our flagship streaming services. For the second consecutive quarter, Paramount+ fueled more than 6 million additions to our global streaming subscription base, which now reaches over 42 million. This growth was driven by the power of the service’s differentiated content strategy and expanding content slate. Looking ahead, we’re excited about our opportunity to build on this momentum, as we scale Paramount+’s content offerings across genres and expand our reach with global audiences.”

Advertising revenues rose by 24 percent in the period to reach $2.1 billion, while streaming revenues almost doubled to $983 million, split fairly equally between advertising and subscription revenues. Affiliate revenues were up 9 percent to $2.1 billion. Theatrical rose to $134 million. Licensing and other revenues were down 36 percent to $1.2 billion.

By segment, TV entertainment (including CBS) was up 23 percent to $2.8 billion, with ad revenues up 24 percent to $1.1 billion, affiliate up 10 percent to $691 million, streaming up 81 percent to $350 million and licensing up 16 percent to $680 million. Cable networks were up 8 percent to $3.5 billion, with a 24-percent increase in advertising to $1 billion, 9 percent in affiliate to $1.4 billion and a 98 percent boost in streaming to $633 million, while licensing revenues slipped by 48 percent to $415 million. The filmed entertainment segment saw revenues inch up by 3 percent to $667 million, of which theatrical was $134 million and licensing $533 million.