Warner Bros. Discovery Sees Revenue, Profit Gains

Warner Bros. Discovery reported first-quarter revenues of $3.16 billion, a 13 percent gain, delivering a net income of $456 million.

The financials cover the period from January 1, 2022, through March 31, 2022, for Discovery, Inc. The first-quarter performance for the WarnerMedia business is not included, as that transaction closed April 8, 2022.

“With Warner Bros. Discovery, we are creating a pure-play media company with diversified revenues and the most compelling IP ownership, franchises and brand portfolio in our industry,” said David Zaslav, president and CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery. “Importantly, we also have an unrivaled global footprint of touchpoints to get our content into the hands of consumers on every screen. We are putting together the strategic framework and organization to drive our balanced approach to growing our businesses and maximizing the value of our storytelling, news and sports. To do this, we have brought together a strong leadership team in a streamlined structure to foster better command and control and strategic clarity across the entire company. I could not be more excited about the massive opportunity ahead.”

The company ended Q1 with 24 million direct-to-consumer subscribers, an increase of 2 million subscribers since the end of Q4.

U.S. revenues rose 7 percent to $1.9 billion, with ad revenues up 5 percent to $1 billion and distribution up 11 percent to $886 million. Linear subscribers were down 4 percent on the prior year.

International revenues rose 25 percent to $1.2 billion, with ad revenues up 5 percent to $457 million, driven by Winter Olympics coverage in Europe, and distribution revenues up 4 percent to $536 million.