Discovery Ended Q4 With 22 Million Streaming Subscribers, Up By 2M From Previous Quarter

deadline.com:

Discovery said it ended the fourth quarter with 22 million DTC subscribers, up from 20 million for Q3. The bulk of subs are from Discovery+.Revenue rose 10% to $3.2 million, ahead of Wall Street forecasts.

Net income fell 86% to $38 million. In the U.S. advertising sales grew 5% and distribution 17%, primarily driven by the growth of discovery+ and increases in contractual affiliate rates.

Internationally, those increases were 10% and 2%.Free cash flow, a key metric, increased 78% to $784 million, primarily driven by higher adjusted OIBDA (operating income before depreciation and amortization) and improvements in working capital.The latest numbers hit as the company’s merger with WarnerMedia looks set to close by late April, and as streaming, which underpins this deal and much recent activity in the entertainment sector, comes under increasing scrutiny as a business of high costs and uncertain returns.Subscribers to fully distributed linear networks were down 4% at year end 2021 from the year before.

Total subscribers to our linear networks were 8% lower, or 5% lower excluding the impact from the sale of the Great American Country linear network.“2021 was by all measures an exceptional year for our company, in which we achieved significant operational, financial, and strategic objectives,” said Discovery CEO Davis Zaslav, positioning “us well to take advantage of the remarkable opportunities ahead for Warner Bros.