Warner Bros Discovery loss bigger than expected as Hollywood strikes dry up content pipeline

Warner Bros Discovery reported a bigger-than-expected quarterly loss on Friday, as the media conglomerate battled the fallout of the twin Hollywood strikes on content generation and a weak advertising market.

Studios are still facing delays in the release of new content, especially given the lengthy post-production process, even though the strikes by writers and actors ended in September and November, respectively.

The company, forged by the union of WarnerMedia and Discovery, reported overall fourth-quarter revenue of $10.28 billion, missing analysts' average estimate of $10.35 billion, according to LSEG data.

Excluding items, it lost 16 cents per share, larger than expectations for a loss of 7 cents.

The company's shares were down 1 per cent in choppy premarket trading.

Advertising revenue at its networks segment declined 12 per cent to $1.95 billion.

Customers' shift to streaming from linear TV has shackled the company as it seeks to boost growth at its streaming services while staving off declines at its cable business.

Warner Bros Discovery said it had 97.7 million global streaming customers at the end of the fourth quarter, including 1.3 million subscribers from its acquisition of BluTV. That compared with 95.1 million in the prior quarter.

The company is pinning its hopes on the release of the second installment of sci-fi epic Dune, featuring Timothee Chalamet and Zendaya. The release was delayed from November due to the Hollywood strikes.

Pink-themed movie phenomenon Barbie had helped the company smash box office numbers last year with more than $1 billion in ticket sales worldwide.

The results come when the US entertainment industry is abuzz with fresh consolidation moves. Reuters reported in January, citing a source, that Skydance Media CEO David Ellison was exploring an all-cash bid to acquire entertainment company Paramount Global's parent, National Amusements.

That followed another Reuters report in December that Warner Bros Discovery CEO David Zaslav and Paramount top boss Bob Bakish had met to discuss a potential deal.

Costs were down nearly 19 per cent at $10.47 billion as the company spent less on content and marketing.

Free cash flow came in at $3.31 billion for the three months ended December, topping estimates of $2.6 billion, according to Visible Alpha.