Paramount revenue, streaming subscribers slip in fourth quarter
Paramount revenue, streaming subscribers slip in fourth quarter
As Paramount pursues Warner Bros. Discovery, it suffered setbacks in its key Q4 metrics.
Paramount Skydance spent much of its fourth quarter trying to figure out how to purchase Warner Bros. Discovery, only for Netflix to swoop in with a better offer, at least for the time being. While Paramount’s machinations to acquire WBD are still ongoing, it must continue its own operations, and to that end, has released its earnings report for the fourth quarter of 2025. The report indicates a bit of a stumble for the company, including its streaming service Paramount+.
Key Details:
- Small decline: Paramount+ lost around 200,000 customers in Q4.
- No election: A lack of political ad buying drove ad revenue down 10% year-over-year.
- Bright spot: Total revenue inched up 2% in the quarter.
Paramount+ reported having 78.9 million subscribers in the fourth quarter of 2025. That’s around 200,000 fewer customers than it had at the end of the third quarter. Still, that figure is 4% higher than the year-ago quarter and helped drive a 10% bump in direct-to-consumer revenue. Paramount has also adjusted its streaming subscriber total to reflect that it no longer offers free trials for Paramount+.
Revenue from Paramount’s TV Media division fell by 5%, driven by a 10% downturn in advertising revenue. The lack of political ads on Paramount-owned stations as compared to the year-ago quarter during the presidential campaign was the main source of this slip.
Overall, Paramount posted a 2% uptick in total revenue, but net losses grew to $573 million, as compared to $257 million in Q3. Still, Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison said that he and his team of executives are “confident in our standalone strategy and growth trajectory for Paramount.”
Ellison also said that Paramount views WBD as an “accelerant to achieving these goals more quickly,” but first, his company has to finalize an acquisition of that prestige media company. Paramount lost the auction to acquire WBD when that company chose Netflix’s bid in December, but has since launched a hostile takeover campaign to try to reverse that decision.
Paramount may be breaking through in its attempts to snatch WBD away from Netflix, but there’s no doubting the company hopes to see a rebound in revenue and streaming subscribers in its next quarterly results.
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.