It’s the end of an era for Paramount Global, which released its Q2 financial report yesterday—the last one before Skydance Media officially takes the reins. Here are the key takeaways:

Q2 revenue: US$6.85 billion 

Year-over-year change: Up 1% from US$6.81 billion 

People moves: Chief content licensing officer Dan Cohen announced his exit from the media giant after an eight-year run. This follows last week’s news that co-CEO Chris McCarthy will depart once the merger is complete. Fellow co-CEO Brian Robbins (who leads Nickelodeon and Paramount Pictures) is also expected to leave, according to multiple media reports.

Streaming gains: DTC revenue has grown by 15% since Q2 2024 to reach US$2.1 billion, while global viewing hours for Paramount+ and Pluto TV went up 29% in the same timeframe. Paramount+ revenue increased by 23%, but the service shed 1.3 million subscribers this quarter to settle at a base of 77.7 million.

TV declines: Paramount is no exception to industry-wide linear broadcasting struggles. Its television media revenue fell by 6% to US$4 billion this quarter, with a 4% decline in ad revenue and a 7% decrease in affiliate and subscription revenue driving the drop.

Kids highlights: Nickelodeon premiered a 2D-animated original comedy called Wylde Pak (pictured) on June 6 and also closed a deal to acquire Mr. Crocodile, a series that’s produced by Magical Society and distributed by Mediawan Kids & Family. In April, the kidsnet also renewed Rock Paper Scissors for two more seasons.

Movie biz stability: While it was a quiet quarter for family films (the new Smurfs pic premiered right after the cut-off point for Q2 on June 30), filmed entertainment revenue rose 2% to US$690 million, thanks to tentpole title Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning. Paramount did note that licensing and other revenue was down by 19% due to less animated content licensing.

Coming up next: The Skydance transaction is expected to close on August 7. While Smurfs is not doing particularly well in ticket sales at the moment (grossing only US$72 million so far), Paramount Pictures will be banking on a more reliable legacy IP soon with The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants hitting theaters on December 19.

Bidding adieu: In her sign-off, Shari Redstone, majority shareholder of Paramount’s parent company National Amusements, said that substantial progress has been made in streamlining the company’s cost structure. “I am proud that when the Skydance transactions close, we will be turning over a healthy business with a strong foundation for long-term growth and value creation.”