Paramount Global and Nielsen are on the outs, but so far the programmer hasn’t felt any pain from the temporary breakup.
Paramount is in the middle of a dispute with Nielsen that’s now lasted into its second month. Their previous agreement expired in September and Paramount claimed Nielsen was demanding substantial price increases inconsistent with the realities of the content industry right now. Paramount is continuing to stay engaged in talks with the measurement firm and hopes to reach an agreement, but there are limits to what it will accept.
“For example, we wouldn’t want the Nielsen fee for certain networks to be greater than the ad revenue those networks actually generate,” co-CEO George Cheeks said on the company’s 3Q24 earnings call Friday. “We haven’t seen any adverse impact on ad revenue to date, and we don’t expect a material impact in Q4, but I do want to be clear that we do recognize that Nielsen can be a valuable resource. It’s just that the economics have to make sense for the business.”
He said that in the time where Paramount hasn’t had access to Nielsen data and tools, he’s been encouraged by the willingness of partners to adopt alternative measurement solutions.
DTC revenue rose 10% YOY. Subscription revenue was up 7% on the back of subscriber growth and pricing increases for Paramount+, and advertising escalated by 18% thanks to growth at Paramount+ and Pluto TV. Paramount+ subscribers are now at 72 million, growing by 3.5 million in the quarter.
Paramount+ did see some sub growth come out of the company’s new partnership with Charter. In August, Paramount+’s ad-supported tier became available to all Spectrum TV Select and Mi Plan Latino customers at no additional cost.
“It’s still relatively early in terms of time since the launch of that bundle, and I expect the contribution will continue to grow over time,” CFO Naveen Chopra said. “That being said, when we look at the first few months, we’re actually really pleased with the results, both in terms of the take up from Charter subs and the impact on direct sub acquisition.
When questioned about whether Paramount would pursue bundling opportunities, including with other programmers with streaming properties, co-CEO Chris McCarthy said the exec team feels good about Paramount+’s ability to remain largely standalone. That’s not to say they won’t strike partnerships that make sense, including its existing arrangements with Walmart and Delta Airlines.
“These are ones that are very specific, that have incremental value to us. They bring new consumers and really enhance the value proposition from a total business perspective for us,” he said. “That being said, you can always count on us to be strategically looking through the lens of creating value. Part of that exercise is really to be opportunistic about both looking at things from a market-to-market perspective and from a broader partnership perspective.”
The completion of Skydance’s proposed merger with Paramount is still on track to close in the first half of 2025, pending regulatory approvals.
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