ViacomCBS Ad Sales Drop 27% in COVID Quarter, but Streaming Revenue Rises 52%
ViacomCBS absorbed a 27% drop in ad sales during the COVID-plagued second quarter of 2020, when the company also reported a 52% increase in streaming subscriptions revenue. On Thursday, ViacomCBS said its domestic streaming subscriber count, which includes both CBS All Access and Showtime OTT customers, reached 16.2 million by June 30, 2020, which was 74% better than a year ago. ViacomCBS posted net income of $481 million, a 49% decrease from Q2 2019’s net earnings of $977 million. With almost all movie theaters closed, the company’s theatrical revenues plummeted 98%. Pluto TV’s monthly average users (MAUs) rose to 26.5 million, up 61% year over year. Putting another checkmark in the “win” column Thursday morning, ViacomCBS topped media analysts’ expectations for the unique Q2. Also Read: How ViacomCBS Plans to Reinvent CBS All Access for the Streaming Era Wall Street forecast earnings per share (EPS) of 93 cents on $6.17 billion in revenue, according to a consensus compiled by Yahoo Finance. ViacomCBS reported adjusted EPS of $1.25 on $6.275 billion in revenue. Despite 25% growth in digital video and streaming revenue, the company’s overall revenue figure was down 12% from the comparable quarter last year; per-share earnings declined 16%. Most...
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