Paramount+ adds 700,000 subscribers as PSKY posts improved D2C results

Billy Bob Thornton leads the Landman cast

Paramount Skydance (PSKY) added around 700,000 new Paramount+ subscribers in the first quarter (Q1) as the company grew direct-to-consumer (D2C) revenue by 11%, saw TV revenue fall 6% and edged closer to its mega-merger with Warner Bros Discovery.

With the Q1 additions, Paramount+ now has 79.6 million subscribers globally, with the gains helping to push D2C revenue up 11% to US$2.4bn and adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) up to US$251m, compared to an EBITDA loss of US$4m a year ago.

PSKY said it actually added around two million new Paramount+ subscribers, but that was offset by the loss of around one million subs as the company exited some bundling agreements outside of the US. The loss of those one million subs “improved the quality and economics of our subscriber base,” said PSKY, and pushed the average revenue per subscriber up 14%.

Key viewership drivers for Paramount+ include the Ultimate Fighting Championship, as well as a trio of Taylor Sheridan series: Landman (season two), The Madison and Marshals, the latter of which is a CBS original series that streams on Paramount+ the day after airing on broadcast.

PSKY also highlighted Italia Shore and Canada Shore, which it said have become the top-performing reality series of all time on Paramount+ in their respective countries.

In PSKY’s TV Media division, which houses its cable channels and broadcaster CBS, revenue fell 6% to US$3.67bn in Q1, while EBITDA grew 11% to US$1.1bn.

Revenue in its studios segment, which spans entities including CBS Studios, Paramount Television Studios, Nickelodeon Animation and Paramount Pictures, climbed 11% to US$1.28bn.

Across the entire company, total revenue climbed 2% year-over-year to US$7.35bn in Q1, with an operating income of US$616m compared to a loss of US$339m a year ago. EBITDA across the company also climbed to US$1.16bn in Q1 compared with US$674m last year.

In the quarter, PSKY said it made “significant progress” towards closing its US$111bn purchase of Warner Bros Discovery and remains on course to close the deal in Q3 of 2026. The progress touted included the “syndication of a portion of the new equity to strategic investors, securing US$10bn in debt financing, syndicating the remaining US$49bn in bridge financing to 18 global financial institutions, advancing regulatory approvals, and the April 23 approval by WBD shareholders,” said PSKY.