The media industry continues to struggle as consumers cut the cord and advertisers pull back on their spending. Warner Bros. Discovery is no exception – and though it lost far less money in the final quarter of 2023 than in the same period a year earlier, its loss was still wider than expected.
The company, which owns CNN among other media properties, reported a net loss of $400 million, down from the $2.1 billion it lost a year earlier. That brought its full-year loss to $3.1 billion, just less than half of the $7.4 billion it lost in 2022. But its loss of 16 cents a share in the quarter was worse than the 10-cent-a-share loss forecast.
Among the headwinds it faces: advertising revenue at its network segment fell to $1.9 billion, down 14% from a year earlier, excluding the impact of currency exchange rates.
Its streaming services posted a 3% sales increase, but that unit still lost $55 million. That was also an improvement from the $217 million loss it reported a year earlier. Global subscribers of 97.7 million were up 2% from the third quarter, and 1% from a year earlier. It posted those gains despite a domestic streaming subscribers slipping to 52 million, down 1% compared to the third quarter, and down 5% compared to a year earlier.
Shares of Warner Bros. Discovery were little changed in pre-market trading immediately after the report. Shares are down 16% so far this year.
This is a developing story. It will be updated.
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