There’s a fascinating thread running through these quarterly reports from left-wing Hollywood. They all deliver good numbers (subscriber increases, etc.), but the stock still drops. Last week, it was the Disney Grooming Syndicate. This week it is AMC.
During the first quarter of 2024, AMC enjoyed a two percent jump in streaming subscribers (300,000 adds) and currently sits at 11.5 million. Streaming revenues climbed three percent to $145 million when compared to last year. However…
AMC Networks reported its first quarter earnings on Friday, noting a 13% drop in U.S. ad revenue to $140 million due to a “linear ratings decline and a challenging ad market.” Streaming subscriptions to AMC+, meanwhile, ticked up to 11.5 million, an increase of 300,000 subscribers since March 2023.
Following this reported decline, the company’s stock fell by roughly 10%. An hour and a half after AMC’s earnings call concluded, the company’s stock was listed at $12.35 a share. The company’s stock has fallen about 34% when accounting for year to date.
So what’s going on?
Well, exactly what I have been predicting for over a decade.
This is another example of how the death of cable/satellite TV is killing these left-wing entertainment outlets.
It’s all right here: “linear ratings decline and a challenging ad market.”
Linear ratings are based on the number of cable/satellite viewers, and with millions and millions of people cutting the cable cord every quarter, fewer and fewer have cable, so fewer and fewer have access to AMC, so fewer and fewer watch AMC. The result is a decline in ad revenue. What isn’t noted here is a decline in carriage fees — the dollar amount AMC collects for every household that carries its network.
Here’s what Wall Street knows…
Streaming will never make up for the crippling losses coming from the slow death of cable/satellite TV. You see, outlets such as AMC made billions off of cable/satellite TV it never earned. If AMC was part of your cable/satellite package, you paid AMC a carriage fee whether or not you watched. This was free money for AMC based on zero merit. CNN, MTV, Comedy Central, and others enjoy the same affirmative action.
Streaming terrifies Hollywood because it is pure merit. AMC has to produce content people want to watch to attract and keep subscribers.
Hollywood cannot survive on merit, at least not as lucratively as it did with cable and satellite TV’s affirmative action.
Another problem for outlets such as AMC is that streaming is hugely popular AND streaming is eating into ad dollars. Not only are subscription services running ads now, so are the free streaming services such as Pluto, FreeVee, Tubi, and Roku.
It’s all coming apart.
John Nolte’s first and last novel, Borrowed Time, is winning five-star raves from everyday readers. You can read an excerpt here and an in-depth review here. Also available in hardcover and on Kindle and Audiobook.
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