Paramount Global Sees Q1 Profit Fall Despite Streaming Gains

The strategy to license Yellowstone and other major properties to rival streaming services like Peacock and HBO Max, which Paramount Global CEO Bob Bakish has called “unfortunate,” is out the window, according to CFO Naveen Chopra.

The Duttons will be back in the fall.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorWhere do you take advertisers if you want them to make a big purchase? To a department store, of course.Paramount Global will take clients who attend its upfront Wednesday afternoon to an after-party in the structure on New York’s Madison Avenue that once housed the big Barney’s department store, one way to emphasize the shopping aspect of the event, in which big U.S. TV companies hope to sell the bulk of their commercial inventory for their next programming cycle.As part of the affair, Paramount has dressed up four windows of the former shopping plaza.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorSofia Vergara will lend a hand as Spanish-language media giant TelevisaUnivision moves deeper into the world of streaming.The popular actor, recognized for her turns in ABC’s “Modern Family” and NBC’s “America’s Got Talent,” will create an animated series for the company’s new ViX streaming services, which has an ad-supported tier as well as a premium subscription level. Vergara will create and lend her voice to “Koati, The Series,” an original animated program based on the recent movie centered on a family of exotic animals who live in the rainforests of Latin America.

Cynthia Littleton Business EditorParamount Global’s stock price shot up more than 10% in early trading Tuesday following the news that Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway has scooped up more than $2 billion worth of shares in the company in recent months.Paramount stock opened Tuesday at $28.47 after closing Monday at $28.02, before Berkshire Hathaway’s stock purchases were disclosed in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.Berkshire Hathaway has been in an investor in one of Paramount’s predecessor companies, Viacom, in the not-too-distant past. Buffett’s purchases of late suggest that he sees the company as under-valued, or that he expects the company to be involved in M&A .Paramount Global, which changed its corporate moniker from ViacomCBS earlier this year, has struggled with the conventional wisdom that the company is too small to compete in what is fast becoming a global content marketplace.

Shares of Paramount popped higher in early trading after Berkshire Hathaway, the company of legendary investor Warren Buffett, disclosed late yesterday that it acquired a chunky stake in the company.

Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway invested about $2.6 billion in Paramount Global during the first quarter of 2022, according to a Securites and Exchange Commission filing that disclosed the quarterly stock trading activity of his Berkshire Hathaway holding company.The 91-year-old Buffett, who serves as the owner and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, has garnered the reputation of a value investor over his career, picking up shares in companies that he believes are undervalued or misunderstood by the markets.His investment in Paramount Global bodes well for the entertainment company as it continues to gain steam in Hollywood’s ongoing streaming wars, using its growing service Paramount+ to compete against Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery, NBCUniversal, Netflix, Apple and more in the digital space.

Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway reported Monday in a securities filing that it has acquired a stake in Paramount Global after acquiring $2.6 billion in Class B shares.

Paramount Global has handed Marco Nobili and Olivier Jollet key new roles as its seeks to turbo-charge expansion of its international streaming services.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorHow did the simple act of counting TV viewers become so controversial? David Kenny thinks he knows.The CEO of Nielsen has been under fire for months, ever since some of his company’s biggest customers — the nation’s TV networks — began to complain about how Nielsen tabulated viewers during the coronavirus pandemic. They are still complaining.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorThe industry hasn’t gathered for in-person TV upfront presentations since 2019, and so much has changed — including the ways that Madison Avenue heavyweights are spending their money.Billions of dollars are at stake during the upfront sales process, a period when big marketers such as Apple, McDonald’s and Procter & Gamble reserve TV spots in hopes of locking down lower prices. And this year’s scramble for ad dollars is likely to be more intense, complex and confusing than anything in recent memory — even the 2007 session when networks changed how they measured audiences who were using DVRs.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorFox Corporation said profit dipped in its third fiscal quarter due to declines in value of some of its outside investments, even as revenue increased at its mainstay cable and broadcast operations.The owner of the Fox broadcast network, Fox Sports and Fox News Channel said net income attributable to shareholders came to $283 million, or 50 cents per share, compared with  $567 million, or 96 cents per share, in the year-earlier period. The company has a sizable stake in Flutter Entertainment, the sports-betting company that controls FanDuel.  Meanwhile, the company enjoyed a 7% increase in revenue, which rose to $3.46 billion from $3.22 billion a year earlier.In a statement, Fox CEO Lachlan Murdoch cited “pricing strength in both distribution and advertising revenues across our leadership brands, complemented by the powerful momentum we continue to see at Tubi,” the company’s streaming hub, as reasons for the revenue gains.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorPeople who want to “Meet The Press” with Chuck Todd Monday through Friday will have to do so via their broadband connection, not their set-top box.“Meet The Press Daily,” the weekday counterpart to NBC News’ flagship Sunday public-affairs program, will move to NBC News Now starting June 6, the latest example of how much more focused big TV-news outlets are on streaming video as a rising generation of news aficionados reaches out to digital venues for the latest information and headlines. Chris Jansing, the NBC News veteran, will take over Todd’s 1 p.m.

It’s Friday again, readers. Jesse Whittock here (for the first time, be gentle), taking you through the week’s top headlines.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorTyler Perry will executive produce the first two episodes of a new Paramount+ documentary series about family members who go missing and those who struggle in the aftermath of their various disappearances.Each episode of “Never Seen Again” starts with a loved one recounting the last time they saw their son, daughter, brother, sister, boyfriend or girlfriend before they vanished into thin air. The series comes from See It Now Studios, the new production shingle overseen by veteran CBS News producer and former CBS News President Susan Zirinsky.

Paramount Global CEO Bob Bakish said a new Jackass series is in the works based the recent release of the latest film in the franchise.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer“Jackass” is heading back to the small screen, with a new series from the original creators in the works at Paramount+ after to the immense popularity of “Jackass Forever.”“Based off the success of ‘Jackass Forever,’ we’re working with the creators to continue the partnership with a new series, bringing even more ridiculous antics straight to Paramount+,” Paramount Global CEO Bob Bakish said Tuesday during the company’s Q1 earnings call Tuesday.“Jackass Forever,” the fourth film in the long-running franchise, debuted at the top of domestic box office in February with a better-than-expected $23.5 million. The film included classic cast members such as Johnny Knoxville, Steve-O, Chris Pontius, Dave England, Wee Man, Danger Ehren and Preston Lacy, as well as several new faces, including Rachel Wolfson, Sean “Poopies” McInerney and Jasper Dolphin.

Paramount+ is to launch in the UK and South Korea next month and will be in India next year, Paramount Global CEO Bob Bakish has revealed in the past hour.