Paramount+ claws back 1.4 million subscribers in third quarter
Paramount+ claws back 1.4 million subscribers in third quarter
Paramount missed Wall Street forecasts, but had rosy projections for 2026 to share in its earnings report.
Paramount Skydance is off and running as a going concern. The new company is the result of a merger between Paramount Global and Skydance Media, which officially closed on Aug. 7. That was no doubt the biggest story of the third quarter of 2025 for Paramount, which revealed its earnings report for that quarter on Monday after the closing bell. The data shows that while Paramount Skydaance may not have hit every financial benchmark it wanted to during the quarter, it has reason for optimism in the future.
Key Details:
- Got ‘em back: Paramount+ rose to 79.1 million subscribers in the quarter.
- Just missed: The company pulled in $6.7 billion during Q3, missing a Wall Street projection of $7 billion.
- Profits to come: CEO David Ellison wrote that global profitability was a big goal for Paramount in 2026.
Paramount Skydance ended its third quarter with 79.1 million streaming subscribers, up from the 77.7 million it reported in the second quarter of the year. Revenue from the direct-to-consumer (DTC) segment of Paramount Skydance, where Paramount+ is housed, grew/declined by over $300 million in the quarter, for a total of $1.06 billion.
In the second quarter, Paramount’s DTC revenue growth was actually enough to make up for losses from its TV and Media segment. That trend didn’t quite continue in the third quarter, as Paramount registered a total net loss of $257 million in the third quarter. That’s still an improvement over the third quarter of 2024, in which Paramount lost more than $300 million. Ad revenue declined by 12% to $1.465 billion during the quarter, which caused a major headwind for Paramount overall.
Savings is the name of the game for Paramount, which has revised the amount it wants to trim from its balance sheet from $2 billion to $3 billion. But the company also has some rosy forecasts for 2026, when it expects to pull in a total revenue of $30 billion, with “a healthy acceleration in [streaming] revenue with global profitability,” as Paramount CEO David Ellison wrote in a letter to shareholders.
Paramount Skydance hasn’t wasted any time in attracting new sports partnerships for its streaming service. Just days after closing its merger agreement, the company announced a deal with UFC to stream all numbered events and fight nights on Paramount+ without pay-per-views.
Paramount has also been making strident attempts to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery. The company has made several offers for WBD, and continues to pursue an acquisition despite the emergence of several other interested parties.
Paramount Plus
Paramount+ is a subscription video streaming service that includes on-demand access to 40,000+ TV show episodes from BET, CBS, Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon, Nick Jr., and more. Get free access with a Walmart+ subscription.
Paramount+ includes “1883,” “Tulsa King,” “Star Trek: Discovery,” “SpongeBob SquarePants,” and “PAW Patrol.” Subscribers can watch the NFL, college football, The Masters, college basketball, UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, Serie A, and NWSL. The service also offers the option to watch your live CBS affiliate. The upgraded ad-free package includes premium movies and shows from Showtime.