By Isabella Simonetti
Paramount's streaming revenue grew in the fourth quarter, but the company -- which is pursuing a bid for rival media company Warner Bros. Discovery -- reported weakness in its TV media segment.
Paramount, whose assets include CBS, Comedy Central, Nickelodeon and its namesake studio, earlier this week revised its bid for Warner, now offering $31 a share.
In a letter to shareholders Wednesday, Paramount CEO David Ellison said the company views Warner as "an accelerant" to achieving its goals more quickly.
Paramount reported revenue of $8.15 billion for its fourth quarter, in line with analyst estimates.
Revenue for the direct-to-consumer segment, which includes the Paramount+ streaming service, was $2.2 billion, up 10% from the year-ago period, the company said. Paramount+ ended the quarter with 78.9 million subscribers; analysts polled by FactSet expected it to have 80.2 million subscribers at the end of the period.
TV media revenue declined by 5% year-over-year to $4.71 billion. Paramount said it expects to see continued headwinds to affiliate revenue, driven by declines in pay TV subscribers.
Paramount's shares were up less than 1% in after-hours trading.
The company forecast total first-quarter revenue between $7.15 billion and $7.35 billion and said it expects to grow direct-to-consumer profitability in 2026 and have stable margins in its TV media segment.
In November, Paramount raised its cost-cutting target to at least $3 billion, up from $2 billion. The company said Wednesday that it is on track to achieve its savings targets through 2027.
Earlier this week, Warner said it had received a revised offer from Paramount to buy the entire company for $31 a share, and said its board of directors determined Paramount's revised bid "could reasonably be expected to lead" to a proposal superior to Netflix's signed agreement to buy Warner's studios and HBO Max streaming service.
Paramount closed its $8 billion merger with Skydance in August. The deal was approved by the Federal Communications Commission in July, shortly after Paramount Global agreed to pay $16 million to settle a lawsuit by President Trump over the editing of a "60 Minutes" interview with then-presidential candidate Kamala Harris.
Write to Isabella Simonetti at isabella.simonetti@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
February 25, 2026 17:43 ET (22:43 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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