Paramount Q2 2025: Streaming Growth Offsets TV Decline in 10-Q

Paramount Global, the media and entertainment giant behind Paramount Pictures, CBS, and a suite of streaming services, just released its second-quarter 2025 financial results. In this post, we'll dive into the numbers from their latest 10-Q filing to see how the company is navigating the massive shifts in the media landscape, from traditional television to the new frontier of streaming.

The most striking headline is the dramatic swing back to profitability. Paramount reported a net profit of $57 million for the quarter, a massive turnaround from the $5.4 billion loss it posted in the same period last year. However, this comparison comes with a major caveat: the 2024 loss was driven by a nearly $6 billion impairment charge, a non-cash write-down on the value of its assets. With total revenues holding steady at $6.8 billion, the real story lies deeper within its business segments.

To see how the company makes and spends its money, this flow diagram visualizes the income statement for the quarter.

The Tale of Two Businesses

Paramount's results clearly illustrate the transition gripping the entire media industry: the slow decline of traditional TV and the rapid rise of Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) streaming.

• Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) is the Growth Engine: The segment that includes streaming services Paramount+ and Pluto TV is showing impressive momentum.

  • DTC revenue surged 15% to $2.16 billion.
  • This growth was powered by a 22% jump in subscription revenue, as Paramount+ added 9.3 million subscribers globally over the past year, reaching 77.7 million.
  • Crucially, the segment's profitability is improving significantly. Adjusted OIBDA—a key measure of operational profitability—grew from just $26 million last year to $157 million this quarter. This suggests the streaming business is beginning to scale effectively.

• TV Media Faces Headwinds: The company's legacy broadcast and cable business, while still its largest revenue source, is feeling the pressure.

  • Revenue for the TV Media segment fell 6% to $4.0 billion.
  • The filing attributes this to "linear subscriber declines"—the industry term for cord-cutting—which drove a 7% drop in affiliate and subscription fees.
  • As a result, the segment's Adjusted OIBDA fell 15% to $863 million. While still highly profitable, this part of the business is clearly contracting.

Filmed Entertainment and Cost Control

The Filmed Entertainment segment, which includes the iconic movie studio, had a mixed quarter. While theatrical revenue jumped an impressive 84%, this was offset by a 19% drop in licensing revenue. This led to a wider Adjusted OIBDA loss of $84 million for the segment.

On the cost side, the company continues its efforts to streamline operations, recording $181 million in restructuring and transaction-related items, including severance costs, up from $88 million in the prior year.

The Path Forward

Paramount's Q2 2025 results paint a picture of a company in the midst of a profound transformation. The strategy is clear: grow the streaming business fast enough to offset the inevitable decline of the traditional TV model. The strong subscriber growth and, more importantly, the improving profitability in the DTC segment are positive signs that the strategy is gaining traction.

The challenge, however, remains immense. Paramount must continue this momentum in the fiercely competitive streaming wars, where it battles giants like Netflix and Disney for every viewer and subscription dollar. The key for investors and observers will be watching if the profits from streaming can continue to scale and eventually fill the gap left by the shrinking, but still powerful, legacy TV business.