Paramount cuts 15% of US workforce, takes $6 billion write-down on cable

Yeah, the cable TV business is…not great.

The same week Warner Bros. Discovery posted an almost $10 billion quarterly loss on the back of a write-down of its cable network assets, Paramount Global stepped into the ring to take a $6 billion write-down on its cable network.

The media giant is also cutting 15% of its workforce in the US, totaling around 2,000 jobs, as part of a broader cost savings plan in preparation for its Skydance Media merger, which it agreed to last month. The merger is set to be completed in Q3 2025. The layoffs, meanwhile, will start in the coming weeks, and finish by the end of the year.

Revenue, meanwhile, dipped 11% year over year to $6.8 billion, marking the “largest miss compared to analyst estimates since February 2020,” per LSEG data, as CNBC reported.

But beyond those topline bummers, Paramount reported a profit in its streaming division having earned $26 million after losing $424 million in Q2 2023. Analysts had expected a loss of $265 million for the quarter, per CNBC.

Paramount said streaming service Paramount+ is on track to reach profitability in the US next year, though it lost 2.8 million subscribers in the quarter, down to 68 million. The company said that loss primarily reflects “the planned exit from a hard bundle agreement in South Korea.”