Paramount Skydance Corporation

Good afternoon. My name is Victoria and I'll be the conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to Paramount Global's second quarter 2025 earnings conference call. All lines have been muted to prevent any background noise. At this time, I would now like to turn the call over to Jamie Morris, Paramount Global's EVP Investor Relations. You may now begin your conference call.

Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining our Q2 2025 earnings call. Before we begin, I would like to remind everyone that in addition to our earnings release, we have trending schedules containing supplemental information available on our website. In addition, certain statements made on this call are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. These risks and uncertainties are discussed in more detail in our filings with the SEC. Some of today's financial remarks will focus on adjusted results. Reconciliations of these non-GAAP financial measures can be found in our earnings release or in our trending schedules, which contain supplemental information, and in each case can be found in the investor relations section of our website. As we detailed in the 8-K file last week, we expect the Paramount Skydance transaction to close on August 7, 2025. As a result, this will be our last earnings call with the company in its current configuration. Today, we will share highlights of the quarter, but we will not be taking questions. On this call, we have Shari Redstone, non-executive chair of our board of directors, Chris McCarthy, our co-CEO on behalf of his fellow co-CEOs, and Andy Warren, our interim CFO. Now, let me turn the call over to Shari.

Thank you, Jamie. Given this is the final earnings call under our current corporate structure, I wanted to take the opportunity to express my thanks to our shareholders for their investment in our business and to the others across the investment community who have followed us for many years. I believe I can take it on faith that many on this call understand the enormous importance of this business to my family and to me. Beginning nearly my father, Sumner Redstone, built Viacom and CBS by bringing together a group of the best assets in media, news, and entertainment. While people often debated whether content or distribution ruled the day, my father's steadfast belief was that content was king. Even against the backdrop of enormous change, that core business philosophy remains the reality for our business and industry. That is a reality that Skydance surely understands. I am confident that with their vision for the business and the technology and resources they can bring to bear, they can build on Paramount's legacy and position it for long-term success and value creation. I am proud that when the transaction closes, we will be turning over a healthy business with a strong foundation for success. One year ago, that was not a foregone. Against the backdrop of tough industry conditions in the linear business, in a pending transaction, the progress we have made is a testament to the talent, focus, and dedication of the people of Paramount under the leadership of George Cheeks, Chris McCarthy, and Brian Robbins. George, Chris, and Brian took on a very challenging job. While continuing to lead in their core areas of responsibility, they work together to develop new content and strategic plans for the company, while also making difficult decisions to streamline the company's cost structure and secure the stability and growth potential of the business. I will forever be grateful for their hard work, dedication, and friendship. Thank you. While Chris will go into more detail about the company's financial results on this call, I would be remiss not to mention a few of the co-CEO's accomplishments and those of the wonderful teams across our business. I will start with streaming because it makes me so proud that while we only launched Paramount Plus four years ago, we are already a top four global SVOD service, and we will be profitable in the U.S. faster than many of our peers. What has driven this performance? Others might have more content, but Paramod Plus has distinguished itself for delivering big, bold, breakthrough original scripted hits that consistently rank in the SVOD Top 10, plus incredible sports, kids, and unscripted content from across the company. And, as I am particularly proud, programming that informs and educates audiences about the issues we face as a society and around the world. This is also the reason CBS has been the number one broadcast network for 17 years in a row, due also to its range of entertainment, sports, and news programming. And in cable, the company has delivered the number one scripted series, number one reality series, number one late night show, and number one kids show. And for Paramount Pictures, it has continued to expand its hit franchises, Sonic the Hedgehog, Mission Impossible, A Quiet Place, SpongeBob, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and more. Taken together, this has driven improved bottom line performance and strengthened free cash flow. In closing, it has truly been a privilege to work with George, Chris, and Brian over the past year to achieve the goals that have positioned this company so well for the future. And while it is never easy to step away, please know that it has been an honor for my family and for me to serve as stewards of these assets over the past several decades. We will always be cheering on Paramount and the talented people who have made it what it is today. Thank you.