ViacomCBS Revenues Slip 12 Percent

Gains in affiliate and streaming revenues at ViacomCBS in Q2 helped to partially offset a 27-percent drop in advertising revenues due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Overall revenues at the company were down 12 percent to $6.3 billion, with net earnings falling by 51 percent to $478 million.

“ViacomCBS delivered another solid quarter, with clear operational momentum and sequential
improvement in key earnings and cash flow metrics,” said Bob Bakish, president and CEO. “Despite the impact of COVID-19 on revenue in the quarter, we’re successfully managing through the effects of the pandemic, reaffirming the strength of our combined operations. Our results underscored our strong progress delivering on our value-creation initiatives, including integration cost synergies, expanded and new distribution agreements, as well as the rapid acceleration of our streaming business, where we achieved record users and revenue in free and pay while building toward the relaunch of our diversified super service.”

Overall ad revenues were down 27 percent to $1.9 billion, with the U.S. down 24 percent to $1.7 billion and international down 43 percent to $204 million. Affiliate revenues gained 2 percent to $2.2 billion, with the U.S. up 2 percent to $2 billion and international down 5 percent to $160 million. Domestic streaming and digital video revenue, which includes streaming subscription and digital video advertising revenue, rose to $489 million, up 25 percent year-over-year, driven by 52 percent growth in streaming subscription revenue and growth in Pluto TV advertising revenue. Content licensing revenues fell 7 percent to $1.9 billion. Theatrical revenues plummeted to $3 million from $152 million due to the closure of cinemas.

By segment, TV entertainment, including CBS Television and CBS Television Studios, reported revenues of $2.3 billion, a 22 percent decline, with ad revenues down 27 percent and content licensing down 44 percent, while affiliate revenues rose by 22 percent. The cable networks saw revenues drop 26 percent to $3.2 billion, with advertising down 26 percent and affiliate down 6 percent, while content licensing more than doubled to $797 million, driven by the licensing of domestic streaming rights to South Park. The filmed entertainment segment had revenues of $647 million, a 26 percent decline, as a 30-percent boost in home entertainment helped to offset the 98-percent plunge in theatrical revenues.