Although its DTC streaming business achieved massive revenue growth, finishing up by 37% year over year at US$6.7 billion, Paramount Global reported a slight dip in overall earnings for 2023 today.
Paramount+ alone generated 69% more revenue in Q4 2023 than the same period the previous year, signing up 4.1 million new subscribers in the quarter. President and CEO Bob Bakish noted in the earnings report that Paramount’s flagship streamer now has more than 67.5 million subscribers and is expected to generate a profit in the North American market in 2025.
But the streaming gains were dragged down by losses in the filmed entertainment and TV media segments. Paramount Pictures made US$2 billion at the global box office in 2023, but lower licensing revenue and slowing production services due to the strikes led to a 20% revenue decrease to US$2.9 billion. And TV media earnings were down by 8% compared to 2022, with Paramount also seeing a 15% drop in annual advertising revenue.
All tolled, the company generated US$29.7 billion in revenue last year—down 2% from US$30.1 billion in 2022.