Mediatech Capital Partners managing partner Porter Bibb weighs in on the streaming wars and says Netflix will need to find a buyer soon because they are not making a profit.
(Reuters) – ViacomCBS Inc posted a 3% drop in revenue on Thursday as the company reported its first quarterly results since the merger of the two media firms late last year.
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Viacom and CBS completed their merger in December in their third attempt since 2016, aiming to beef up their presence in the media industry and fight deep-pocketed players such as Netflix Inc and Walt Disney Co.
The merger reunited media mogul Sumner Redstone’s entertainment empire and brought Showtime networks and CBS News under the same roof as Nickelodeon, Comedy Central and Paramount movie studios.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| VIAC | VIACOMCBS INC. | 29.77 | -5.90 | -16.54% |
The company said domestic streaming and digital video business was already generating about $1.6 billion in annual revenue.
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Advertising revenue fell 2% to $3.03 billion during the quarter as domestic ad revenue was hit by a decline in political ads.
The Viacom office is seen in Hollywood, Los Angeles, in 2018. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson/File Photo (Reuters)
The company said it expects revenue to grow in mid-single digit during 2020.
ViacomCBS also said it plans to save $750 million annually, up from the previous target of $500 million.
Revenue fell to $6.87 billion from $7.09 billion a year ago in the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31.
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(Reporting by Supantha Mukherjee in Bengaluru and Kenneth Li in New York; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)
