Warner Bros. Discovery announced substantial growth in its streaming operations during second-quarter earnings, with the segment generating record revenue exceeding $3 billion, representing a 10% year-over-year increase. The company attributed gains to expanded geographic markets and its content offerings, including popular titles such as “Euphoria,” “House of the Dragon,” and “The Pitt.” Management indicated the second half of the year would benefit from additional releases including “Harry Potter” and “Gilded Age.”
Streaming advertising revenue climbed 9%, primarily driven by growth in global subscribers to the ad-supported tier. However, the elimination of NBA games from the streaming platform’s media rights package reduced year-over-year advertising growth by 16 percentage points, excluding currency effects. The company generated more than $500 million in adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization from its streaming division.
CEO David Zaslav emphasized the value of HBO Max as a global streaming service, highlighting the cultural influence of HBO programming. CNN operations also showed growth, with linear viewership rising 24% compared to the prior year and total platform minutes increasing 19%. Management credited the strength of CNN’s journalism in a challenging geopolitical environment.
Overall second-quarter revenue reached $8.72 billion, declining 11% from the year-prior quarter and falling below Wall Street expectations of $9.29 billion. Net income attributed to the company totaled $149 million, or 6 cents per share, significantly lower than the $1.58 billion, or 63 cents per share, recorded a year earlier. The company attributed this decrease to pre-acquisition adjustments to intangible asset valuations and restructuring charges. Adjusted EBITDA declined to $1.88 billion from $1.95 billion year-over-year.
The results emerge as Warner Bros. Discovery pursues its combination with Paramount under Skydance ownership, a transaction facing regulatory challenges and scheduled for trial in March. The merged entity would create a streaming service with approximately 200 million subscribers, combining HBO Max and Paramount+, though the deal has drawn criticism regarding competitive concerns from lawmakers and state officials.
Article Attribution | Read More at Article Source
Article summary produced by Claude AI