WBD becomes first to turn full-year streaming profit

Warner Bros. Discovery has become the first Hollywood conglomerate "to turn a streaming profit for a full year." For the year 2023, the company reported a streaming profit of $103M, compared with a loss of nearly $2.1B for all of 2022. During Q4, the streaming segment at WBD posted a loss of $55M in adjusted EBITDA, compared with a year-ago loss of $217M. Streaming segment revenue "continued to grow, helped by subscriber price increases and higher advertising revenue, driven by Max U.S. ad-lite subscriber gains." In the first quarter, it had "swung to" a $50M profit from a year-ago loss of $65M. WBD today also "gave an update on its global streaming subscriber base," which had ended the third quarter at 95.1 million, down from 95.8 million in the second quarter. The company ended 2023 with a total of 97.7 million streaming subscribers. Streaming revenue for the fourth quarter increased 3% to more than $2.5B (HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, 2/23).