Paramount Global
Media & EntertainmentFounded 1912- Updated July 2025
Reviewed by Swet Parvadiya
Last reviewed: July 2025
CorpDigest
Paramount Global
Financial Performance
Last reviewed: July 2025 · By Swet Parvadiya
Revenue
$28.7B
Market Cap
$8.5B
Employees
22,000
Paramount generated $28.7 billion in revenue in 2024 while posting a net loss of $565 million — a figure that becomes more striking when you examine the trajectory. Revenue in 2022 was $29.98 billion. The company has been contracting, not growing, in nominal terms. The revenue architecture explains the pressure. Retransmission consent fees from cable and satellite operators carrying CBS have historically contributed billions annually — a payment structure that depends entirely on the continued existence of paid cable bundles. As those bundles erode, those fees follow. Advertising revenue from linear networks is subject to the same secular decline. Paramount+ subscription revenue is growing, but from a much smaller base. The Pluto TV acquisition in 2019 added a free ad-supported streaming service that now competes for time spent without a subscription paywall. Strategically it addresses cord-cutters; financially it generates advertising revenue rather than the more predictable subscription revenue that investors assign higher multiples to. Market capitalization stood at $8.5 billion against that $28.7 billion revenue base — a ratio that reflects investor skepticism about whether the streaming transition will happen fast enough to replace what linear television is losing. The Skydance merger introduced new capital and strategic alignment with a production partner that co-financed Top Gun: Maverick's $1.49 billion global gross. Whether that partnership reshapes the financial trajectory over the next five years is the question the numbers have not yet answered.
Revenue Trend Analysis
YoY Change
-3.2%
4-Year CAGR
+3.2%
Peak Year
2022
Trend
Mostly Growing
Paramount Global has reported revenue across 5 fiscal years, compounding at +3.2% annually over 4 years. The most recent year saw a 3.2% decline versus the prior year. Revenue peaked in 2022 at $30.0B. Out of 4 reported periods, 2 showed growth and 2 showed a decline.
| Fiscal Year | Revenue | YoY Change |
|---|---|---|
| FY2024 | $28.7B | -3.2% |
| FY2023 | $29.7B | -1.1% |
| FY2022 | $30.0B | +4.9% |
| FY2021 | $28.6B | +13.1% |
| FY2020 | $25.3B | — |
Source: SEC EDGAR filings, annual earnings releases, and verified financial disclosures.
Click any row to see year details.
Paramount Global reported total revenue of approximately $29.2 billion for fiscal year 2024, roughly flat compared with $29.7 billion in FY2023 and $30.1 billion in FY2022, reflecting the offsetting effects of streaming growth and linear pay-TV decline. The TV Media segment generated approximately $20.0 billion in revenue and remained the largest contributor to operating income despite a roughly 7% year-over-year decline in advertising and affiliate revenue combined. The Direct-to-Consumer segment generated roughly $7.3 billion in FY2024 revenue, up approximately 16% year-over-year, and reached full-year segment profitability for the first time as cost discipline and price increases compressed losses. Filmed Entertainment posted approximately $3.1 billion. Total company adjusted OIBDA was reported at roughly $3.1 billion. Free cash flow turned positive at approximately $1.3 billion as content investment moderated. The company recorded a non-cash goodwill impairment of $5.98 billion in Q2 2024 related to cable networks, reflecting the structural pay-TV decline and reducing the carrying value of MTV, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, and BET to a level consistent with current discounted cash flow expectations rather than peak-bundle valuations.
Paramount Global ended FY2023 with approximately $14.6 billion of long-term debt and a leverage ratio of roughly 4.5x trailing OIBDA, well above the 3.0x or lower range typical of investment-grade media companies, after S&P downgraded the credit rating to junk in March 2024. Annual interest expense exceeded $800 million, consuming a meaningful share of operating cash flow that would otherwise have funded content or returned capital. The Skydance transaction, which closed in August 2025, injected approximately $1.5 billion of fresh primary capital into the balance sheet through Skydance and RedBird, used to pay down debt and fund streaming losses during the transition. Asset divestitures discussed publicly include potential sales of BET Networks, certain real estate, and potentially the Showtime linear network, with proceeds also earmarked for debt reduction. Management's stated target post-merger is to return to investment-grade credit metrics within roughly two years, requiring a combination of debt paydown, OIBDA growth from streaming profitability, and asset sales rather than relying on any single lever. Annual content spend was also pared from the $17 billion peak guided in 2022.
ViacomCBS shares peaked in March 2021 at roughly $100 per share for a market capitalization near $60 billion, briefly inflated by the Archegos Capital Management collapse that had built up a large concentrated position. The valuation collapsed over the subsequent three years as streaming losses mounted, the cable bundle eroded faster than expected, and content spend pushed leverage higher. By mid-2024 the equity traded in the $10-$12 range for a market capitalization of roughly $7-$8 billion, an approximately 85% decline from peak. The Skydance deal valued legacy Paramount shareholders at roughly $15 per Class B share in cash for a portion of their holdings, with continuing equity in the recapitalized Paramount Skydance Corporation. Post-merger market capitalization in late 2025 sat near $8.5 billion. The valuation re-rating reflected three structural changes: investor consensus shifted away from the 'media scale equals victory' thesis that had justified the 2019 merger; streaming peer multiples compressed sharply across the sector; and Paramount's specific dependence on cable networks made the discount steeper than for peers with healthier digital mixes such as Disney.
Paramount Global's annual content spend peaked at roughly $17 billion in 2022, encompassing original and licensed programming across CBS, cable networks, Paramount+, Showtime, and theatrical film production, before management began moderating commitments in 2023 as Wall Street pushed for streaming profitability over subscriber growth. By FY2024 content spend had been pared toward roughly $14-$15 billion, with a larger share weighted toward franchise theatrical releases (Mission: Impossible, Top Gun, Sonic the Hedgehog, Star Trek) and sports rights renewals. By comparison, Netflix spent roughly $17 billion in 2024, Disney roughly $25 billion across its segments, and Warner Bros Discovery roughly $20 billion. Paramount's lower absolute spend reflects both balance sheet discipline and the smaller subscriber base of Paramount+, which makes per-subscriber content cost a tighter constraint. Sports rights — particularly NFL and SEC football — represent a disproportionate share of cash content cost and are themselves rising at high single-digit annual rates each renewal cycle. The post-Skydance strategic priority is to allocate content investment toward titles that demonstrably move the streaming subscriber needle rather than toward maintaining legacy linear scheduling that no longer commands prior advertising or affiliate economics.
Using these figures? Please credit CorpDigest with a link.
CorpDigest. "Paramount Global Revenue & Financials." CorpDigest, https://corpdigest.com/company/paramount/financials.<div style="font-family:system-ui,sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:1.5;border:1px solid #e2e8f0;border-radius:8px;padding:12px 16px;max-width:520px"><strong>Paramount Global reported $29B in revenue (FY2024).</strong><br>Source: <a href="https://corpdigest.com/company/paramount/financials" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CorpDigest — Paramount Global financials</a></div>