Paramount Skydance Reports Wider Q4 Loss as It Presses New Bid for Warner Bros. Discovery

Paramount Skydance released its fourth-quarter 2025 earnings on Wednesday, posting a sharply wider loss as declines in traditional television revenue offset gains in streaming and filmed entertainment. The results come as the company ramps up its effort to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD).

The company, which also owns the CBS broadcast network, reported a quarterly loss of $573 million, compared with a $224 million loss in the same period a year earlier. The results came despite a 2% increase in overall revenue.

The earnings report marks the first full quarter Paramount has operated under David Ellison and the new Skydance management team, following the completion of Skydance Media’s $8 billion acquisition in August 2025.

The weaker bottom line was driven largely by softness in the company’s TV business, its largest operation. Revenue from its TV networks fell 5% to $4.7 billion, down from nearly $4.98 billion during the same quarter a year ago. Within that segment, TV advertising revenue dropped 10% and distribution revenue declined 7%.

At the same time, Paramount saw growth in its streaming and studio divisions. Streaming revenue increased 10% to $2.21 billion, while filmed entertainment revenue rose 16% to nearly $1.26 billion, driven in part by the consolidation of Skydance licensing and other revenue streams. Despite that growth, the filmed entertainment segment recorded a wider loss of $119 million, reflecting a year-over-year decline in theatrical revenue.

Paramount CEO David Ellison said, “We inherited a slate that has underperformed. We’re going to see significant improvement in the profitability of the film slate this year.”

Paramount released the results as it intensifies its pursuit of WBD, which is weighing a revamped bid from Paramount to acquire the entire company, including its cable operations. The move comes even after WBD struck a separate agreement in December 2025 to sell its studio and streaming businesses to Netflix.

WBD has previously pushed back on the idea of a Paramount takeover, arguing that Paramount’s market capitalization is significantly smaller than its own and framing the proposed deal as financially imbalanced—akin to a minnow trying to swallow a whale. The company has also raised concerns about the “extraordinary amount of debt financing” that would be required, describing it as the “largest [leveraged buyout] in history” and warning it could “hamper WBD’s ability to perform.”

However, Paramount’s revised $31 per share bid, up from $30 per share, has prompted WBD to review the new proposal to determine whether it’s a better offer than the merger agreement with Netflix. The updated proposal also includes a $7 billion regulatory termination fee as well as a $0.25 per share per quarter “ticking fee” beginning after September 30, 2026, which would continue until the Paramount transaction is completed.

In a letter to shareholders regarding Q4 earnings, Ellison said the company has made “meaningful progress” over the past six months and remains confident in its long-term strategy.

“Over the past six months, we have made meaningful progress,” Ellison wrote, adding that executives “remain confident in the path we’ve set to transform this company for the future.”

Ellison described a potential acquisition of WBD as a way to strengthen Paramount’s financial footing and accelerate its strategic goals. The company views WBD “as an accelerant” to achieving its objectives “more quickly.”

Looking ahead, Paramount projected a 4% increase in revenue for the full year 2026. For the first quarter, the company forecast revenue between $7.15 billion and $7.35 billion, representing a potential decline of 1% or growth of up to 2% compared with the year-earlier period.

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