Reaching New Heights as Paramount

Since the successful merger of Viacom and CBS just two years ago, we have created a company that is far greater than the sum of its parts. And, as our fourth-quarter and full-year 2021 results make clear, our momentum is accelerating — especially in streaming, where we continue to deliver significant growth.

Across our paid streaming platforms, we more than doubled new subscriber additions from the third quarter, adding 9.4 million global streaming subscribers in Q4 — 80% of them on our flagship streaming service Paramount+ — to total more than 56 million global streaming subscribers.

In free ad-supported streaming television, Pluto TV gained a record-breaking 10 million monthly active users (MAU) in Q4, increasing to a total audience of nearly 65 million MAUs. And for full year 2021, the business generated over a billion dollars in revenue — almost five times what it delivered just two years ago.

When it comes to realizing our streaming goals, we are moving fast and gaining even more speed. Already, we are on track to hit our 2024 subscriber goal by the end of 2022 — two full years ahead of schedule – and we now anticipate reaching 100 million subscribers by 2024.

This momentum has us leading the streaming industry on multiple fronts. We had the fastest subscriber growth in streaming, and Pluto TV continued to lead its category, both in MAUs and revenue. Furthermore, Paramount+ was named by Morning Consult as the fastest-growing brand of 2021 in any industry — another indication that the service is catching on with consumers.

But our progress extends beyond streaming to include our broadcast, cable and theatrical businesses.

In Q4, we had the top four entertainment programs on all of TV: NCIS, The Equalizer and FBI from CBS, and Yellowstone from Paramount Network – cable’s most-watched series. We also led across multiple genres, with the #1 shows in comedy (CBS’ Young Sheldon), news (CBS’ 60 Minutes), kids (Nickelodeon’s PAW Patrol), competition reality (MTV’s The Challenge) and premium TV (SHOWTIME’s Dexter: New Blood).

On the big-screen, Paramount Pictures became the first studio this year with two top films at the box office – Scream and Jackass Forever – both of which will debut on Paramount+ in March.

Our content and brands are captivating audiences around the world. And, they’ve brought us here – to a watershed moment.

An iconic global company like ours deserves an iconic global name – one that honors our rich history as storytellers and that reflects our promise to be the best at what we do.

That is why, as we announced yesterday at our investor event, ViacomCBS is now Paramount Global, referred to simply as “Paramount.”

We embrace this powerful name as pioneers of a bright new future shaped by a storied past. Since the dawn of Hollywood, the Paramount name and its iconic mountain peak have been synonymous with great entertainment. And, for more than two decades, I have witnessed this power first-hand.

I’ve seen it in the global impact of Paramount’s films, including blockbuster franchises Mission: Impossible, Transformers and A Quite Place, alongside commercial and critical hits Arrival, Fences, Rocketman, Selma and The Big Short, among many, many others.

Likewise, during my time leading Viacom’s international business, I saw the broad reach of the Paramount brand overseas. It drove the launch of the Paramount Channel, which then quickly rose to become one of our biggest branded networks outside the U.S.

More recently, I’ve seen the rebranding of Spike as the Paramount Network grow our domestic audiences thanks to movies, mega-hits like Yellowstone and more. And, in the rebirth of Paramount Television Studios, I’ve seen us harness a new engine of growth as a content supplier for third parties and, increasingly, for our own brands and platforms.

And now, more and more every day, streaming audiences worldwide are discovering the appeal of Paramount+.

As we look ahead, we see a huge, global opportunity in streaming — a much larger potential market than can be captured by TV and film alone. We’re excited by this opportunity and by our ability not just to compete in this industry, but to thrive, and thereby create significant value for both consumers and shareholders.

We believe that we have a differentiated playbook for streaming success that leans into our particular strength — that we are BROAD in four distinct advantages:?

1. Content
2. Streaming business model
3. Mix of platforms
4. Global reach

This breadth positions us to access a larger addressable market, penetrate it more quickly and do it all efficiently and sustainably, starting with the most diverse content offering in streaming: Paramount+.

With binge-worthy content that is as rich and deep as is broad and varied, Paramount+ serves the entire household across every generation, from grandparents who were gripped by The Godfather when it premiered in 1972, to preschoolers who are just as excited about PAW Patrol: The Movie in 2022.

And, we don’t just serve the whole household — we serve a broad range of households by income and geography. Increasingly, that’s a model we’re applying all over the world, creating hits in more than a dozen languages. Over the next year, we will be building on this foundation, expanding our success across key genre lanes — scripted and unscripted; sports, news and events; kids and family; and movies of all kinds, including all new Paramount movies, which, starting with our 2024 releases, will come to Paramount+ following their theatrical runs.

You see a similar breadth in our streaming business model. We are proud of our strength in both pay and free streaming, including Pluto TV’s leadership of the U.S. market in free ad-supported streaming television.

Our approach is to meet customers where they’re at — serving different segments in different ways —thereby reaching a larger total addressable market in the process. And, with the benefit of dual revenue streams in both advertising and subscription, we are maximizing the revenue pool.

Reaching the largest addressable market goes right to the heart of our third advantage: our broad set of platforms, spanning linear television, theatrical, and streaming.

Some see our legacy in each of these platforms as a hindrance in our path to success. We see it as exactly the opposite. Our reach, recognition and relationships in these industries are core reasons why our streaming strategy is working. Likewise, our existing platforms allow us to launch and grow shows and fandoms for streaming. They help us promote and make the most of our content investment across platforms, and increase the range of value-creating commercial partnerships we can build. And, they drive our ability to scale quickly for the future – a future that is global.

The breadth of our global reach is without a doubt another distinct competitive advantage we possess.

Some companies only license outside the U.S. We operate. And, we’ve been doing so for decades, with teams on the ground in more than 30 markets. As a truly global operating company, we have the studios, the franchises, the talent and the production capabilities to move global audiences with locally relevant content – driven by more than a dozen production hubs around the world, from Argentina to Australia. And, we are poised to replicate this success to an even bigger, bolder effect in streaming.

It’s already happening with the global expansion of Paramount+. Just yesterday, we announced that Paramount+ will make its debut in France as an exclusive bundle with CANAL+ Group, giving subscribers immediate access to the service through the country’s largest provider. And, with Paramount+ and our joint venture SkyShowtime, we will have streaming services available in more than 60 markets across the United Kingdom, Latin America, Canada, Australia, South Korea, the Caribbean and all major markets in Europe by the end of this year – with Asia, Africa and the Middle East in our sights for 2023.

Being broad isn’t an end in itself. Rather, what matters is that being broad is a means of capturing significant financial benefits – to maximize our streaming revenue and accelerate our growth; leverage our investments more effectively; and run our operations more efficiently.

Our breadth – with all its advantages – is a means of moving farther, faster than ever before in order to turn streaming into a sustainable business for the future.

It’s an incredible opportunity that we have before us, and its size is matched only by the scale of our ambition to seize it. I am confident we will.

I only need to look at the past two years to know that the talent, passion and discipline of our teams –and the courage, creativity and resilience they’ve shown amid unprecedented challenges – will ensure that we deliver on the promise of what the Paramount name represents.

I am so proud of the progress our company has made and how we continue to set the bar higher for ourselves. And, I have never been more excited about our future. Onward and upward to new heights…

For more information, go to www.paramount.com.?

Visit ir.paramount.com to read our Q4 and FY 2021 earnings press release for information on our use of non-GAAP financial measures and forward-looking statements.