AMC Networks CEO Kristin Dolan, who took office earlier this year, said the company is “very well positioned” to weather the WGA strike.
On the company’s first-quarter earnings call, Dolan said AMC Networks “is doing well this year and next year, so I’m not particularly concerned about writers’ strikes at this point.”
Guild members officially launched their strike a week ago, and early signs are that the labor stalemate could last for months. The effects are sweeping across the television world, with late-night programming darkened and other productions gradually being disrupted. Media CEOs are in the spotlight during quarterly earnings season, with Paramount’s Bob Bakish and Warner Bros Discovery’s David Zaslav making headlines with their respective opinions.
AMC Networks is undergoing significant layoffs, cutting 20% of its workforce by the end of 2022. Witch of Mayfair From the world of Anne Rice and new spin-offs the walking dead franchise.
For both linear TV and streaming, the company relies on advertising revenue. Overall numbers were solid for the quarter, but ad revenue he was down 20%. The company blamed “anticipated linear ratings declines, a softening advertising market, and fewer original show episodes.”
Streaming, especially the company’s portfolio and niche focus of outlets such as Shudder and AcornTV, has become an increasingly important strategic goal. The company dropped 300,000 subscribers in the quarter to settle at 11.5 million. The company previously set a target of 20 million to 25 million streaming subscribers by 2025, indicating that streaming will soon overtake traditional linear TV as a revenue stream.
