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(Reuters) -Warner Bros Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD) said on Tuesday it added about 2 million streaming subscribers in the first quarter, at a time when industry pioneer Netflix lost subscribers for the first time in more than a decade.
In the first set of results from the media giant forged by a $43 billion merger between Discovery Inc and AT&T Inc (NYSE:T)’s WarnerMedia assets, the TLC and Eurosport channel owner said quarterly revenue rose 13% to $3.16 billion, helped by a rebound in ad spending in the United States and abroad and the Beijing Olympics in February.
The results did not include figures for WarnerMedia, home to the Harry Potter and Batman franchises, pay TV channels such as CNN and streaming service HBO Max.
In the three months before the merger’s close, total paid streaming subscribers – including those from Discovery+ – rose to a total of 24 million.
Across the sector, Wall Street is starting to question streaming’s long-term prospects following a lightning surge during the pandemic. Those concerns were compounded after Netflix Inc (NASDAQ:NFLX)’s disappointing results and outlook.
Last week, Warner Bros Discovery said it would shut down its CNN+ streaming service less than a month after it got off to a slow start, reportedly attracting just 10,000 viewers a day.
Analysts are also closely watching top boss David Zaslav’s content strategy in the coming quarters.
Earlier this month, the firm revamped its executive team as nine high-level WarnerMedia executives, including Chief Executive Jason Kilar and Chief Executive of WarnerMedia Studios and Networks Group Ann Sarnoff, announced their exits ahead of the formation of the combined company.
Net income available to the company rose to $456 million, or 69 cents per share, from $140 million, or 21 cents per share, a year earlier.
