Paramount defends streaming as stock slides
November 3, 2022
Paramount Global has defended its strategy as it invests heavily to become a big player in the streaming wars.
Paramount reported third-quarter profits fell 57 per cent as its DTC units dropped $343 million (€351.5m). Paramount’s already depressed stock sunk another 10 per cent.
CFO Naveen Chopra told analysts that streaming would be an important and financially rewarding part of the Paramount portfolio.
“Streaming offers a total addressable market which is more than twice the size of linear […] The incredible ease of consumption with a vast array of content available at home or on the road, in whatever format you want, ad-free or ad-supported, means we can connect more consumers with Paramount content than ever before,” said Chopra
This year, Paramount said it will exceed its expectations for direct-to-consumer growth of 75 million global subscribers.
“It’s worth noting that there are streaming services in the market today with ARPU comparable to or higher than the monthly revenue we generate per linear household, and we believe Paramount+ will achieve these levels of ARPU overtime with the implementation of price increases and continued growth and engagement and advertising monetisation […] We definitely see opportunities to increase price on Paramount Plus and you will see us do that in the future,” Chopra added.