NEW YORK—In its Q1 2024 earnings report, Warner Bros. Discovery continued to see growth in its streaming operations, adding 2 million streaming subs in Q1 2024 and reporting improved profits. But it reported lower than expected company-wide revenue and profits as its traditional TV and studio businesses continued to decline.
“We delivered meaningful growth in our streaming business with a nice acceleration in ad sales, generating nearly $90 million in positive EBITDA for the quarter,” said David Zaslav, president and CEO. “We will soon be rolling out Max to 29 countries across Europe, and the content lineup for Max over the coming year is one of our strongest ever. Warner Bros. Pictures also had a strong start to the year as the first studio to reach $1 billion in both overseas and global box office, and they have a great slate in the works. Importantly, we once again delivered strong free cash flow, even in our seasonally weakest FCF quarter.”
In Q1, companywide EBITDA was $2,102 million, a 20% decrease (excluding the impact of foreign exchange changes) from a year earlier and total revenues were $9,958 million, down 7% YoY. It reported net losses of $966 million, which included $1,879 million of pre-tax acquisition- related amortization of intangibles, content fair value step-up, and restructuring expenses.
The company ended Q1 with total DTC subscribers of 99.6 million, an increase of 2.0 million global subscribers vs. Q4. Global DTC ARPU was $7.83, a 4% increase (excluding the impact of foreign exchange rates) and DTC revenues increased modestly to $2,460 million compared to the prior year quarter. DTC Adjusted EBITDA was $86 million, a $36 million year-over-year improvement.
Domestic DTC subs rose from 57 million in Q4 to 57.7 million in Q1.
WBD’s traditional businesses continued to decline, however. Its networks segment saw revenue decline 8% YoY to $5,125 million and EBITA drop 8% YoY to $2,119 million.
