VIACOMCBS REPORTS Q4 AND FULL YEAR 2021 EARNINGS RESULTS

NEW YORK, Feb. 15, 2022 /PRNewswire/ --

• Total Company Revenue Increased 16% Year-Over-Year in Q4, Reflecting Growth Across All Revenue Types
• Quarterly Global Streaming Revenue Grew 48% Year-Over-Year to $1.3 Billion, Driven by Strength in Subscription and Advertising
• Added a Record 9.4M Global Streaming Subscribers, Overwhelmingly Led By Paramount+, to Reach Over 56M Subscribers in the Quarter, and Achieved 84% Year-Over-Year Growth in Streaming Subscription Revenue
• Fueled By a Diverse Global Content Offering, Subscriber Acquisition and Consumption on Paramount+ Accelerated - Driven By Original Scripted Dramas 1883 and Mayor of Kingstown; Family Friendly Films Such As Clifford The Big Red Dog; and Live Sports With The NFL ON CBS
• Added 10M Pluto TV Global Monthly Active Users (MAUs) to Reach Over 64M and Grew Revenue by 45% Year-Over-Year
• Strengthened Financial Position by Generating $2.3B of Net Proceeds From Non-Core Asset Dispositions
• The Company is Hosting Virtual Investor Event Today, Detailing the Momentum of Paramount+ and More

STATEMENT FROM BOB BAKISH PRESIDENT & CEO

"In the fourth quarter you saw the power of strategy and strength of execution across the company. Our success was evident across all lines of business, and spotlighted by streaming, where we achieved our best quarter ever in streaming subscription growth - more than doubling our subscriber additions from last quarter with a record 9.4M additions, expanding our total global streaming subscribers to over 56M. And, to top it off, we saw meaningful acceleration in our global Pluto TV MAUs, to reach over 64M and generate over $1 billion in revenue in the year. This sets us up well for 2022, where I'm tremendously excited to continue to build on this powerful momentum - investing in global content, distribution, and market expansion - to further drive scale."

OVERVIEW OF Q4 REVENUE

REVENUE BY TYPE

• Advertising revenue grew 1% year-over-year, reflecting improved pricing, partially offset by lower political advertising and lower linear impressions.
• Affiliate revenue increased 2% year-over-year, reflecting higher reverse compensation, expanded distribution and rate increases, partially offset by subscriber declines.
• Streaming revenue rose 48% year-over-year:
• Streaming subscription revenue grew 84% year-over-year, reflecting strong subscriber growth from the company's streaming subscription services.
• Streaming advertising revenue grew 26% year-over-year, driven by growth in advertising on Pluto TV and Paramount+.
• Theatrical revenue reflects the fourth quarter release of Clifford The Big Red Dog, and the third quarter release of PAW Patrol: The Movie, while the prior-year period was impacted by the closure or reduced capacity of movie theaters in response to Covid.
• Licensing and other revenue increased 45% year-over-year, reflecting a higher volume of licensing, including from the comparison against the impact in 2020 from Covid-related production shutdowns.

 

GLOBAL STREAMING HIGHLIGHTS

• Global streaming subscribers rose to more than 56M, adding a record breaking 9.4M subscribers in the quarter.
• Subscriber additions in the quarter were overwhelmingly led by Paramount+, with 7.3M additions, bringing Paramount+ total subscribers to 32.8M in the quarter.
• Domestically, Paramount+ saw record subscriber sign-ups and engagement from a variety of content, including Clifford The Big Red Dog, Mayor of Kingstown, 1883, South Park: Post Covid, live events and the NFL.
• Internationally, Paramount+ had great momentum, reflecting strong global and local content, including local sports such as A-League in Australia.
• SHOWTIME OTT also had a record quarter with sign-ups and engagement, benefiting from hit originals, including Dexter: New Blood and Yellowjackets.
• SkyShowtime, the new streaming joint venture with ViacomCBS and Comcast, plans to launch in more than 20 European markets encompassing 90 million homes starting later this year.
• Pluto TV revenue grew 45% year-over-year to $362M, as additions of 10M grew total MAUs to over 64M in the quarter.
• During the quarter, Pluto TV launched in Italy, and announced a strategic partnership with Nordic Entertainment Group to bring Pluto TV to Sweden, Denmark, and Norway in 2022.

REPORTING SEGMENTS

TV ENTERTAINMENT

• In Q4, CBS had the top scripted broadcast drama with NCIS, the top comedy with Young Sheldon, and the top three new programs with FBI: International, NCIS: Hawai'i and Ghosts. Also, THE NFL ON CBS averaged over 18 million viewers, more than any prime-time television sports, entertainment, or news series on any network this season.
• Revenue grew 18% year-over-year, reflecting growth across all revenue streams.
• Advertising revenue increased 2% year-over-year, primarily reflecting improved pricing and an increase in original programming, partially offset by lower political advertising.
• Affiliate revenue grew 5% year-over-year, driven by growth in reverse compensation.
• Streaming revenue rose 64% year-over-year, reflecting subscriber and advertising growth at Paramount+.
• Licensing and other revenue increased 51% year-over-year, reflecting a higher volume of licensing, including from the comparison against the impact in 2020 from Covid-related production shutdowns.
• Adjusted OIBDA decreased 73% year-over-year, reflecting the company's increased investment in Paramount+.

 

CABLE NETWORKS

• In Q4, ViacomCBS maintained leadership as the #1 portfolio in share of viewing among key demos (P2+, P12-17, P18-34, P18-49, P25-54), and owned the #1 cable series with Yellowstone and the #1 cable series among K2-11 with Paw Patrol.
• Revenue increased 17% year-over-year, reflecting growth across all revenue streams.
• Advertising revenue increased slightly year-over-year, as the benefits from improved pricing and the acquisition of Chilevisión were largely offset by lower linear impressions.
• Affiliate revenue grew 1% year-over-year, reflecting higher revenues from expanded vMVPD distribution, rate increases, and pay-per-view boxing events, partially offset by subscriber declines.
• Streaming revenue increased 40% year-over-year, largely fueled by advertising revenue growth from Pluto TV, as well as growth in subscribers for subscription streaming services.
• Licensing and other revenue increased 87% year-over-year, primarily driven by a higher volume of licensing, led by the licensing of programming to Paramount+.
• Adjusted OIBDA decreased 34% year-over-year, reflecting an increased investment in international streaming services and an increase in original programming.

 

FILMED ENTERTAINMENT

• Revenue rose 61% year-over-year, driven by higher theatrical and licensing revenues.
• Theatrical includes revenues from the fourth quarter release of Clifford The Big Red Dog, and the third quarter release of PAW Patrol: The Movie, while the prior-year period was impacted by the closure or reduced capacity of movie theaters in response to Covid.
• Licensing and other revenue increased 54% year-over-year driven by a higher volume of licensing, including to our owned streaming services and from the comparison against the impact in 2020 from Covid-related production shutdowns.
• Adjusted OIBDA increased $36 million year-over-year, reflecting higher profits from the licensing of our content, partially offset by higher distribution costs from the timing of theatrical releases.

 

BALANCE SHEET & LIQUIDITY

• As of December 31, 2021, the company had $6.3B of cash on its balance sheet and a committed $3.5B revolving credit facility that remains undrawn.
• Strengthened financial position by generating $2.3B of net proceeds from the sale of the CBS Studio Center and the Black Rock office building.

ABOUT VIACOMCBS

ViacomCBS (NASDAQ:VIAC, VIACA))) is a leading global media and entertainment company that creates premium content and experiences for audiences worldwide. Driven by iconic consumer brands, its portfolio includes CBS, Showtime Networks, Paramount Pictures, Nickelodeon, MTV, Comedy Central, BET, Paramount+, Pluto TV and Simon & Schuster, among others. The company delivers the largest share of the U.S. television audience and boasts one of the industry's most important and extensive libraries of TV and film titles. In addition to offering innovative streaming services and digital video products, ViacomCBS provides powerful capabilities in production, distribution and advertising solutions.

For more information about ViacomCBS, please visit www.viacomcbs.com and follow @ViacomCBS on social platforms.

VIAC-IR

CAUTIONARY NOTE CONCERNING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This communication contains both historical and forward-looking statements, including statements related to our future results and performance. All statements that are not statements of historical fact are, or may be deemed to be, forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Similarly, statements that describe our objectives, plans or goals are or may be forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements reflect our current expectations concerning future results and events; generally can be identified by the use of statements that include phrases such as "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "intend," "plan," "foresee," "likely," "will," "may," "could," "estimate" or other similar words or phrases; and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that are difficult to predict and which may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by these statements. These risks, uncertainties and other factors include, among others: risks related to our streaming initiatives; changes in consumer behavior, as well as evolving technologies, distribution platforms and packaging; the impact on our advertising revenues as a result of changes in consumer viewership, advertising market conditions and deficiencies in audience measurement; our ability to maintain attractive brands and our reputation, and to offer popular programming and other content; increased costs for content and other rights; competition for talent, content, audiences, subscribers, advertising and distribution; the potential for loss of carriage or other reduction in or the impact of negotiations for the distribution of our content; losses due to asset impairment charges for goodwill, intangible assets, FCC licenses and programming; risks related to our ongoing investments in new businesses, products, services and technologies, through acquisitions and other strategic initiatives; evolving business continuity, cybersecurity, privacy and data protection and similar risks; content infringement; the impact of Covid-19 and other pandemics and measures taken in response thereto; domestic and global political, economic and regulatory factors affecting our businesses generally; liabilities related to discontinued operations and former businesses; the loss of existing or inability to hire new key employees or secure creative talent; strikes and other union activity; potential conflicts of interest arising from our ownership structure with a controlling stockholder; and other factors described in our news releases and filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including but not limited to our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and reports on Form 10-Q and Form 8-K. There may be additional risks, uncertainties and factors that we do not currently view as material or that are not necessarily known. The forward-looking statements included in this communication are made only as of the date of this communication, and we do not undertake any obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances.

 

 

 

 

SUPPLEMENTAL DISCLOSURES REGARDING NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES

(Unaudited; in millions, except per share amounts)

Results for the three and twelve months ended December 31, 2021 and 2020 included certain items identified as affecting comparability. Adjusted operating income before depreciation and amortization ("Adjusted OIBDA"), adjusted earnings from continuing operations before income taxes, adjusted provision for income taxes, adjusted net earnings from continuing operations attributable to ViacomCBS, and adjusted diluted EPS from continuing operations (together, the "adjusted measures") exclude the impact of these items and are measures of performance not calculated in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America ("GAAP"). We use these measures to, among other things, evaluate our operating performance. These measures are among the primary measures used by management for planning and forecasting of future periods, and they are important indicators of our operational strength and business performance. In addition, we use Adjusted OIBDA to, among other things, value prospective acquisitions. We believe these measures are relevant and useful for investors because they allow investors to view performance in a manner similar to the method used by our management; provide a clearer perspective on our underlying performance; and make it easier for investors, analysts and peers to compare our operating performance to other companies in our industry and to compare our year-over-year results.

Because the adjusted measures are measures of performance not calculated in accordance with GAAP, they should not be considered in isolation of, or as a substitute for, operating income, earnings from continuing operations before income taxes, provision for income taxes, net earnings from continuing operations attributable to ViacomCBS or diluted EPS from continuing operations, as applicable, as indicators of operating performance. These measures, as we calculate them, may not be comparable to similarly titled measures employed by other companies.

The following tables reconcile the adjusted measures to their most directly comparable financial measures in accordance with GAAP.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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SOURCE ViacomCBS Inc.