Erik Gruenwedel

February 16, 2023

Paramount+ added a record 9.9 million subscribers in the fourth quarter (ended Dec. 31, 2022), to end the year with 55.9 million subscribers. When combined with Showtime Anytime, MTV+ and Noggin, Paramount Global ended the period with 77 million streaming subs worldwide.

The media giant will integrate Showtime Anytime with Paramount+ in the third quarter (ending Sept. 30), with the ad-free monthly subscription price rising to $11.99 from $9.99. The ad-supported plan will increase to $5.99 from $4.99.

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Paramount’s free ad-supported streaming TV/AVOD platform Pluto TV added 6.5 million average monthly viewers to end the year with nearly 79 million average monthly users.

Paramount’s direct-to-consumer business generated nearly $1.4 billion in quarterly revenue, up from $1 billion in the previous-year period. Full-year revenue increased to $4.9 billion, from $3.3 billion at the end of 2021.

Increased revenue were offset by increased expense as well. Fourth-quarter operating loss increased to 575 million, from 505 million million in the previous-year period. For the year, operating losses ballooned to more than $1.8 billion, from operating losses of $992 million in 2021.

“Our content and platform strategy is working and, with even more exceptional content coming this year, we expect to return the company to earnings growth in 2024,” CEO Bob Bakish said in a statement.