Advertising is still paramount
The CEO noted that the industry isn’t seeing the second-half recovery initially expected for advertising, also crediting revenue impact to the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike. Thus, TV advertising revenue decreased by 14%, which the company said came from softness in the global ad market and lower political advertising.
According to the company, sports demand was healthy year-over-year, and there was growth in CPG, alcohol and automotive; however, other categories such as tech and pharma were weaker than expected.
Helping to offset any headwinds, Paramount announced earlier in the day that CBS was “virtually sold out” of Super Bowl ads and “pacing well ahead” in ad sales with the game still a few months away.
Fueling more ad growth, the company recently announced the global expansion of its digital advertising platform EyeQ. According to Paramount, Pluto TV will fuel EyeQ’s international debut with a footprint across four continents and more than 35 territories. Additionally, the 2024 introduction of a Paramount+ ad tier in select international markets, including Australia and Canada, will accelerate EyeQ’s ad-supported reach.
During the call, Paramount said EyeQ now reaches more than 100 million full-episode monthly unique viewers in the U.S. alone.
