The numbers:
+10%—Warner Bros. Discovery’s Q2 streaming revenue increase with HBO Max’s international expansion and original content such as The Pitt and Euphoria.
-22%—Ad revenue decrease as ad-lite streaming subscriber growth was more than offset by the absence of the NBA and domestic linear audience declines.
-39%—Studio revenue down partly due to an unfavorable comparison year over year after the success of Sinners and A Minecraft Movie.
The watercooler talk:
Despite headwinds against the nearly $111 billion Paramount Skydance merger with Warner Bros. Discovery, David Zaslav, WBD’s CEO, is certain the transaction will close.
During WBD’s second-quarter earnings call on Thursday, Zaslav fielded a question about the company’s future if the deal didn’t go through and dismissed the notion.
