AMC Global Media Swings to Loss as Revenue Drops 9% Despite Streaming Growth

Revenue of $547 million, a year-over-year decrease of 9% and a drop compared to the $555 million predicted by analysts at Yahoo Finance Diluted earnings per share came in at a loss of $0.51, a year-over-year decrease of 9% and compared to the $0.07 loss predicted by analysts at Yahoo Finance A co-exclusive streaming deal for “TheWalking Dead” between Netflix and AMC+ valued at $500 million was announced at the time of the report AMC Global Media, previously known as AMC Networks, saw a 9% drop in revenue during its second quarter of the year. The reason was one that AMC is all too familiar with: overall subscription and affiliate declines in the cable environment. However, AMC did have two bright spots during its earnings report. Streaming revenue increased by 6% during the quarter to hit $180 million, owing to price increases. And at long last the company announced what’s going to happen to “The Walking Dead.” As part of a $500 million co-exclusive deal that will run for five years, Netflix and AMC+ will serve as the streaming homes for both the original series and its six spinoffs, with Netflix paying AMC to stream all the shows from the franchise on its service. The quarter also saw significant affiliate activity, including renewals with Comcast and YouTube, that included the distribution of AMC’s linear networks, streaming services and FAST channels. AMC-owned networks will also be included as part of the launch of YouTube TV’s genre packages. As for domestic operating revenue, that decreased 11% compared to last year, hitting $470 million. Subscription revenue was down 5%, coming in at $306 million, and affiliate revenue was down 17%, coming in at $126 million. This was largely due to cable’s ongoing decline. Streaming growth was up 6%, hitting $180 million largely due to price increases. During the quarter, streaming revenue represented over a third of revenue for the Domestic Operations segment. Advertising revenue also saw a decline of 11%, coming in at $109 million. That segment included a one-time impact of a now resolved system integration. If that one-time impact were removed, the decline in advertising revenue would be in the mid single digits. Finally, content licensing revenue decreased 34% to $56 million due to the timing and availability of deliveries in the period. Streaming subscribers dropped by 1% last quarter, though the company reported that ad-support AMC+ hard-bundle agreements were up 200%. In May, AMC also reported that it will no longer report streaming numbers on a regular basis moving forward. Earlier in the year, AMC also took a $4 million restructuring charge. About $3 million went to the company’s voluntary buyout program for U.S. employees, and about $2 million was earmarked for a restructuring plan tied to AMC’s international segment as several Latin American offices were closed during the first part of the year. More to come …