Co-Chief Executive Officer, Paramount Global
Search every verified Christopher Mccarthy interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. Christopher McCarthy, co-chief executive officer of Paramount Global, said on the company’s Q4 2024 earnings call that the company added 5.6 million new subscribers in the quarter, the strongest quarter in two years, and 10 million for the full year. He stated that global watch time per user improved 20% in Q4 and that churn improved by over 100 basis points year-over-year. McCarthy noted that total company adjusted operating income returned to growth, up 30% year-over-year to $3.1 billion, and that free cash flow reached $489 million, the highest in four years. He said the company is “making the successful transformation into a streaming‑first company” and expressed confidence that Paramount Plus will achieve domestic profitability in 2025. In earlier interviews, McCarthy described the company’s strategy as focused on creating “mass commercial hits” and franchising its intellectual property to fuel Paramount Plus growth. He said the winner of the streaming wars “is not going to be the one that spends the most money but the one that makes the mass commercial hits” and that the company is “laser focused on making the big hits and turning them into franchises.” He also noted that Paramount Global was leveraging its linear television base, where “over 70% of all TV minutes are spent on linear,” to launch new series and accelerate its streaming service.
“2024 was a transformative year and marks a significant turning point for Paramount. Total company adjusted OI returned to growth, up 30% year-over-year to $3.1 billion; we improved net leverage 1.3 turns and generated $489 million of free cash flow, the highest in four years.”
“We added 10 million new subscribers for the year, driven by a very strong Q4 with 5.6 million new subscribers — the strongest quarter in sub growth in two years; in Q4 global watch time per user improved 20%, driving a measurable improvement in churn of over 100 basis points year-over-year.”
“Taken together, DTC generated significant improvement in profitability of $1.2 billion for the year which gives us great confidence Paramount Plus will achieve domestic profitability for 2025.”
“We are very proud of the success that we've had to date — our content is working; in Q4 we saw record engagement up 20% which led to a strong improvement in churn, and that gives us great confidence we're well on our way to hit profitability in 2025, a record time for a U.S. SVOD.”
“We're transitioning our business, audience and advertisers from linear to streaming — DTC advertising grew about 18% in 2024 and we now have one of the largest addressable domestic footprints; CBS, our sports slate and prime-time lineup help insulate us from pressures in the linear landscape.”
“Paramount Plus achieved a new high ranking as the number two domestic SVOD for hours watched across all original series in Q4 — an amazing achievement considering the volume of originals we produce versus our peers and demonstrating our ability to deliver big, broad hit content that is also highly efficient.”
“On behalf of my fellow co‑CEOs, we'd like to thank you — we are very proud of the success in 2024 and the momentum going into 2025; this is proof that we are making the successful transformation into a streaming‑first company.”
“The winner of the war is not going to be the one that spends the most money but the one that makes the mass commercial hits. When doing that you are making an eye towards profitability quicker and more efficiently.”
“That's why we are laser focused on making the big hits and turning them into franchises to fuel the future of Paramount Plus, and the winners will have the hits and from where we sit, we will pretty great about that.”
“Consumers are always about following the biggest hits and going with the most buzz, regardless of where the environment is and economy, and big hits break out from the pack and that's why we are doing so well.”
“Every month this past year we were almost every month the number one most downloaded streaming service. Staying laser focused on the bigger hits is proving wildly successful and we have lots more room to grow.”
“Our business has been rooted in the mass commercial business, whether it's in cable or broadcast with CBS, and across the last 20 years, nobody has been number one in more demos and more genres than CBS or Entertainment Studios.”
“That's why we are having success, because we are appealing to the center of the country and the coast and around the world, and that's why the franchise strategy will continue to deliver.”
“Listen, thanks for having me — you know, we're making incredible progress and we have a really unique strategy; we're leveraging that legacy business. To this day over 70% of all TV minutes are spent on linear, and we're using that great base to launch new series and accelerate our streaming service, Paramount Plus.”
“We're already the fastest growing service in streaming.”
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