AMC Networks reported lower third-quarter earnings as plunging advertising revenue overwhelmed gains in streaming revenue and subscribers.
Net income fell to $63.4 million, or $1.44 a share, from $84.7 million, or $1.94 a share a year ago.
Revenue fell 7% to $637 million.
At AMC’s domestic operations, operating income dropped 13% to $162 million. Revenues fell 8% to $541 million.
Streaming revenues rose 9% to $142 million. Streaming subscribers rose 4% to 11.1 million as the company added 400,000 subscribers in the quarter.
Advertising sales plunged 18% to $147 million.
The company said ad revenue were down because of linear ratings declines, a challenging ad market and fewer original episodes airing. The decline was partially offset by digital and advanced advertising revenue growth.
Affiliate revenue dropped 13%, with 3% coming from no longer being available on Fubo.
AMC lowered its forecast for 2023 revenue to $2.7 million from $2.8 million, but said its cost-cutting efforts will keep operating income in the $650 million to $675 million range.
“During this period of experimentation and change in our industry, we continue to execute on our plan and effectively manage the business with a focus on high-quality programming, strong partnerships and profitability. In addition to introducing an ad-supported version of AMC Plus, we extended our leadership in TV advertising through the launch of programmatic buying on our linear networks, an industry first,” CEO Kristin Dolan said.
“We are well positioned to achieve our free cash flow goals for the year and remain focused on responsible content investment and monetization across a wide array of distribution platforms and licensing opportunities,” Dolan said.
