Sports, broadcast TV and digital paced Paramount Global‘s overall performance in the upfront ad market, Co-CEO Chris McCarthy said during the company’s second-quarter earnings call.
“We are pleased with our upfront results, particularly in the context of the evolution of the ad market and the scale of new entrants,” he said.
Linear volume on par with 2023 and CPMs were up on a blended basis, driven by sports and broadcast, which were “relatively strong,” McCarthy said.
“The digital marketplace was also healthy,” he added. “We secured commitments in excess of $1B across our streaming portfolio, reflecting both the quality and the scale of our assets. With our mix of pay and free, we offer the most efficient reach across premium video.”
The quarterly report featured a jarringly large write-down of cable networks totaling just shy of $6 billion. The move followed a similar one by Warner Bros. Discovery on Wednesday. With linear TV in free fall, the growth of streaming offers a ray of hope for Paramount, with its direct-to-consumer unit posting its first operating profit during the quarter. In terms of resources, however, the financial strain of operating a mix of traditional and digital assets has resulted in major cutbacks, with the company planning to lay off 15% of its U.S.-based workforce by the end of the year. The cuts and write-down both were in part motivated by the pending merger of Paramount and Skydance Media.
Netflix, Amazon and Disney have all entered the streaming marketplace as major sellers over the past year or two, disrupting the sector for a number of players like Paramount. The company has most of its subscribers to Paramount+ on an advertising tier and also has a number of well-established free services with ads, including Pluto TV and CBS News 24/7.
McCarthy did not provide any commentary on ad category trends or note any particular programs drawing interest from advertisers.
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In a departure from decades-long precedent, Paramount in 2023 decided to ditch its large-scale presentation to ad buyers in New York, replacing the event with a series of smaller-scale dinners. Other media companies, along with tech giants Amazon, Netflix and YouTube, have continued to stake their claims on traditional upfront turf during mid-May in Manhattan. Paramount brass have insisted the new approach eliminates waste and enhances connections with ad buyers.
Ad chief John Halley told Deadline last spring that the new approach had a “refreshing practicality” to it, adding that a number of media buyers had expressed enthusiasm for the overhaul.