WBD’s overall revenue fell 5% year-over-year to $9.7 billion, continuing a recent decline and missing investor expectations, according to its earnings report on Wednesday. WBD shares dropped 8% during after-hours trading.
Warner Bros. Discovery had the most to prove during this week’s upfronts. So, the company used its upfront stage on Wednesday to showcase a new suite of ad products.
Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) broke the trend of streaming publishers reporting positive gains last quarter. But it’s slowly gaining subscribers, and expects bundling and global expansion to help speed up traction for its streaming service, Max.
Warner Bros. Discovery continues to lose subscribers to a lack of original content (for which it blames the Hollywood actors’ strike). But streaming advertising revenue, which is up 29% YOY, represents a glimmer of hope.
Streaming services still need new subscribers, but account growth alone isn’t enough to achieve profitability. Which may explain why they’re struggling to grow accounts and advertising revenue at the same time.
Warner Bros. Discovery lost 1.8 million global streaming subscribers this quarter, but streaming ad revenue is up 25% YOY, thanks to the merged company’s new streaming service, Max.
