AMC Networks, the company behind such cable channel brands as AMC, IFC and Sundance TV, as well as such streaming services as AMC+, Acorn TV and horror streamer Shudder, reported a 17 percent drop in third-quarter U.S. advertising revenue to $110 million on Friday due to linear ratings declines and lower marketplace pricing.
U.S. subscription revenue of $316 million were unchanged from the prior-year period “as growth in streaming revenues offset declines in affiliate revenues,” the firm said. Streaming revenue jumped 14 percent to $174 million on gains from subscriber growth.
The company, led by CEO Kristin Dolan, added streaming subscribers year-over-year to end the latest quarter that ended on Sept. 30 with a total of 10.4 million subs, compared with 10.4 million as of the end of June and compared with 10.2 million as of the end of September 2024.
For the year-ago quarter, AMC Networks had at the time actually posted 11.8 million streaming subs. However, earlier this year, the company had said it would change the way it calculated streaming subscribers, with its numbers now reflecting subscribers who pay a fee for one of their services, rather than those who receive access to one of the streaming services through a video package that also includes linear programming.
Dolan during a morning analyst call reiterated the company’s streaming revenue would be its largest single revenue driver this year, with acceleration in quarterly streaming revenue growth coming as AMC pivots from its legacy linear TV business. “As much larger companies spin off assets or split up to find clarity in a complicated time, we’ve built the components of a modern media business that is nimble, independent and well suited to today’s environment and whatever comes next,” she argued in prepared remarks.
On the advertising front, CFO Patrick O’Connell told analysts: “The ad market remains challenging for everyone. We are encouraged by our strong upfront performance, the strength of our programming and our significant advanced and digital advertising capabilities.” AMC is also focused on advertising growth from currently 33 FAST channels across 22 platforms, in part to use FAST and AVOD channels to allow audiences to sample AMC TV series and possibly take up streaming subscription services.
With its second-quarter earnings report, O’Connell said AMC would meet its free cash flow outlook for the full year 2025 at around $250 million, with $232 million already generated in the first 9 months of the year.
Among the original series that the company’s services featured in the third quarter was season 3 of The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon, The Madame Blanc Mysteries on Acorn TV, Nautilus on AMC, and The Luckiest Man in America and Kidnapped on AMC+. AMC is also co-producing in Nova Scotia a six-part crime drama, You’re Killing Me, starring and executive produced by Brooke Shields as a crime novelist who partners with a writer to solve the murder of her friend.
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