Paramount Global (PARA) 2023 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Good afternoon. My name is Nadia, and I'll be the conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to Paramount Global's Q3 2023 Earnings Conference Call. (Operator Instructions) At this time, I would now like to turn the call over to Jaime Morris, Paramount Global, EVP, Investor Relations. You may now begin your conference call.

午安.我叫納迪亞，今天我將擔任會議主持人。此時此刻，我謹歡迎大家參加派拉蒙全球 2023 年第三季財報電話會議。 （操作員指示）此時，我想將電話轉給派拉蒙全球投資者關係執行副總裁傑米·莫里斯 (Jaime Morris)。您現在可以開始電話會議。

Good afternoon, everyone. Thank you for taking the time to join us for our third quarter 2023 earnings call. Joining me for today's discussion are Bob Bakish, our President and CEO; and Naveen Chopra, our CFO.

大家下午好。感謝您抽空參加我們的 2023 年第三季財報電話會議。與我一起參加今天討論的是我們的總裁兼執行長 Bob Bakish；以及我們的財務長納文‧喬普拉 (Naveen Chopra)。

Please note that in addition to our earnings release, we have trending schedules containing supplemental information available on our website.

請注意，除了我們的收益發布之外，我們的網站上還提供包含補充資訊的趨勢表。

Before we start this afternoon, I want to remind you that 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.

在今天下午開始之前，我想提醒您，本次電話會議中所做的某些陳述是前瞻性陳述，涉及風險和不確定性。我們向 SEC 提交的文件中更詳細地討論了這些風險和不確定性。今天的一些財務評論將重點放在調整後的業績上。這些非公認會計原則財務指標的調節可以在我們的收益發布或我們的趨勢表中找到，其中包含補充信息，並且在每種情況下都可以在我們網站的投資者關係部分找到。

Now I will turn the call over to Bob.

現在我將把電話轉給鮑伯。

Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining us. There's no question the media industry remains dynamic and in many ways, complex, but our performance this quarter demonstrates clear progress against strategic goals, as we set the company up to return to significant earnings growth in 2024. In the third quarter, we grew streaming revenue in Paramount+ subscribers, while narrowing DTC losses. Multiple lines business benefited from a franchise strategy powered by Paramount Pictures, and our licensing business continued to be an important component of content monetization. At the same time, we remain disciplined in our approach to cost management, helping maximize earnings of our TV media business.

大家下午好，感謝您加入我們。毫無疑問，媒體產業仍然充滿活力，而且在許多方面都很複雜，但我們本季的業績顯示出在實現戰略目標方面取得了明顯進展，因為我們為公司在2024 年恢復顯著的盈利增長做好了準備。第三季度，我們的串流媒體業務增長了Paramount+ 訂戶收入，同時縮小 DTC 損失。多線業務受益於派拉蒙影業支持的特許經營策略，我們的授權業務仍然是內容貨幣化的重要組成部分。同時，我們仍然嚴格執行成本管理方法，幫助我們的電視媒體業務最大化收益。

Finally, as you can see, we delivered strong free cash flow in the quarter. Beyond operations, our delevering plan continues to be a priority. And on Monday, we closed on the sale of Simon & Schuster for $1.62 billion. The net proceeds of which we will use to pay down debt. While we remain focused on executing our strategy to make world-class content with mass popular appeal, delivery across platforms and monetize it across multiple revenue streams, there's never been a more important time for us to remain agile and adaptive as the industry continues to evolve. We are applying this thinking to every market we operate in, every line of business and every decision we make about the best use of our content.

最後，如您所見，我們在本季實現了強勁的自由現金流。除了營運之外，去槓桿計劃仍然是我們的首要任務。週一，我們以 16.2 億美元的價格完成了 Simon & Schuster 的出售。我們將用淨收益來償還債務。雖然我們仍然專注於執行我們的策略，以製作具有大眾吸引力的世界級內容，跨平台交付並透過多個收入流將其貨幣化，但隨著行業的不斷發展，對於我們來說，保持敏捷性和適應性從未像現在這樣重要。我們正在將這種思維應用到我們營運的每個市場、每條業務線以及我們為充分利用我們的內容所做的每一個決定。

Today, I'll provide more color on how we're doing that with a focus on our DTC momentum. I'll also share our perspective on the distribution and advertising landscape, two topics we know are top of mind with everyone on this call. With that, let's dive in.

今天，我將提供更多關於我們如何做到這一點的信息，重點關注我們的 DTC 勢頭。我也會分享我們對分銷和廣告領域的看法，我們知道這兩個主題是本次電話會議中每個人最關心的話題。接下來，讓我們深入了解一下。

Q3 was yet another significant step in our building of a scaled, profitable streaming business. Paramount+ crossed 63 million subscribers, and we delivered 38% DTC revenue growth, aided by a successful price increase. We also narrowed our DTC adjusted OIBDA losses by over 30%. In fact, we now believe 2022 was our year of peak streaming investment, meaning DTC losses in 2023 will be lower than in 2022.

第三季是我們建立規模化、獲利的串流媒體業務的另一個重要步驟。 Paramount+ 的訂戶數量突破了 6,300 萬，在成功提價的幫助下，我們的 DTC 營收成長了 38%。我們也將 DTC 調整後的 OIBDA 損失縮小了 30% 以上。事實上，我們現在認為 2022 年是我們的流投資高峰年，這意味著 2023 年 DTC 損失將低於 2022 年。

We're clearly advancing on the path to streaming profitability, and this continued DTC improvement will be a key driver of the total company earnings growth we expect next year. Related to that, our integration of Paramount+ and Showtime continues to deliver as we expected. Since it launched at the end of June, the combination has driven increases in acquisition and engagement, ARPU and operational efficiency.

我們顯然正在朝著串流媒體獲利的方向前進，而 DTC 的持續改善將成為我們預計明年公司總獲利成長的關鍵驅動力。與此相關的是，我們對 Paramount+ 和 Showtime 的整合繼續以我們的預期交付。自 6 月底推出以來，這項合併推動了用戶獲取和參與、ARPU 和營運效率的提高。

The power of partnerships is also a meaningful contributor to our momentum. The majority of Delta's daily domestic customers now have in-flight access to Paramount+. Also, we recently completed the first year of our partnership with Walmart+, which continues to add to Paramount+ subscribers and grow viewer engagement. It's also an incremental driver of consumer products franchises like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, PAW Patrol and Yellowstone. And we continue to expand our participation in the global streaming market, leveraging a variety of different models tuned to market dynamics.

合作夥伴關係的力量也是我們發展動力的重要貢獻者。達美航空的大多數日常國內乘客現在都可以在飛行中訪問 Paramount+。此外，我們最近完成了與 Walmart+ 合作的第一年，該合作不斷增加 Paramount+ 訂閱者並提高觀眾參與度。它也是《忍者龜》、《狗狗巡邏隊》和《黃石公園》等消費性產品系列的增量驅動力。我們持續擴大對全球串流媒體市場的參與，利用適應市場動態的各種不同模型。

In major territories like the U.K. and Australia, for example, we have an owned and operated streaming presence that benefits from cross promotion and programming with our local broadcast networks, much like we do in the U.S. with Paramount+ and CBS. In certain smaller markets, we're now prioritizing partner-centric distribution to further unlock the international streaming opportunity. Here, partners will ingest a subset of our content into a Paramount+ branded area on their platform. That way, we have a local partner fully engaged in driving the business forward. And we can monetize our content and amplify the Paramount+ brand without the investment in local content, marketing or operating infrastructure. So the financial benefit is quite accretive.

例如，在英國和澳洲等主要地區，我們擁有並經營串流媒體業務，受益於與當地廣播網路的交叉推廣和節目製作，就像我們在美國的 Paramount+ 和 CBS 所做的那樣。在某些較小的市場，我們現在優先考慮以合作夥伴為中心的發行，以進一步釋放國際串流媒體機會。在這裡，合作夥伴會將我們內容的子集提取到其平台上的 Paramount+ 品牌區域中。這樣，我們就有了一個全力推動業務發展的在地合作夥伴。我們可以透過內容貨幣化並擴大派拉蒙+品牌，而無需投資本地內容、行銷或營運基礎設施。因此，經濟效益是相當可觀的。

This new phase of expansion is just getting underway. In the past few weeks alone, we've locked deals in Belgium and in Greece with more on the way. And speaking of geographic reach, Pluto TV continues to be in more countries today than any other fast service, and it had the highest total viewing hours ever in Q3, both domestically and globally. And like our partner-centric Paramount+ strategy, Pluto allows us to tap into international streaming consumption in an economically efficient way.

新的擴張階段才剛開始。僅在過去幾週，我們就在比利時和希臘鎖定了交易，還有更多交易正在進行中。說到地理覆蓋範圍，Pluto TV 目前覆蓋的國家比任何其他快速服務都多，並且在第三季度的國內和全球總觀看時長創歷史新高。就像我們以合作夥伴為中心的派拉蒙+策略一樣，Pluto 使我們能夠以經濟有效的方式利用國際串流媒體消費。

Moving on to distribution more broadly. Recent negotiations in the industry have raised questions about whether the hard bundling of streaming and Pay-TV will become the norm in the U.S. and what that could mean for companies like ours. The reality is, operators have different priorities, but we've shown that we can adapt our partnerships to accomplish common objectives. As we go forward, it is possible that some of our partners will embrace the strategy that more tightly integrates DTC into the Pay-TV bundle. And we expect that if they do, the bundles would have many of the same advantages we've observed in the various hard bundles we've deployed internationally, namely a dramatically lower cost of acquisition and improvement in streaming churn, and it may improve TV ecosystem trends as well.

轉向更廣泛的分銷。該行業最近的談判引發了人們的疑問：串流媒體和付費電視的硬捆綁是否會成為美國的常態，以及這對我們這樣的公司意味著什麼。現實情況是，營運商有不同的優先事項，但我們已經證明，我們可以調整我們的合作夥伴關係來實現共同目標。隨著我們的前進，我們的一些合作夥伴可能會接受將 DTC 更緊密地整合到付費電視捆綁中的策略。我們預計，如果他們這樣做，這些捆綁包將具有我們在國際上部署的各種硬捆綁包中觀察到的許多相同優勢，即顯著降低的獲取成本和改善流媒體流失率，並且可能會改善電視生態系趨勢也是如此。

In addition, adding the scale of U.S. Pay-TV to Paramount+ ad-supported tier would bring incremental benefit to our digital advertising offering, as well as an additional marketing and promotional value, and it would provide an opportunity to upsell to Paramount+ with Showtime. As a result, these deals, when structured with the right economic value have the potential to be additive to our model while improving simplicity and increasing value for the consumer.

此外，將美國付費電視的規模添加到派拉蒙+廣告支援的層級將為我們的數位廣告產品帶來增量收益，以及額外的營銷和促銷價值，並將提供透過Showtime向派拉蒙+進行追加銷售的機會。因此，這些交易如果具有正確的經濟價值，就有可能成為我們的模式的補充，同時提高簡單性並增加消費者的價值。

As a related point, it's worth noting that we have already finalized agreements with multiple distributors to offer Paramount+ with Showtime to their customers as a true multi-platform product. Importantly, this includes linear subscribers getting app credentials, that's where we are and where we're headed on distribution.

與此相關的是，值得注意的是，我們已經與多個發行商達成了最終協議，將 Paramount+ with Showtime 作為真正的多平台產品向他們的客戶提供。重要的是，這包括線性訂閱者獲取應用程式憑證，這就是我們的現狀和分發方向。

Now let's talk about advertising. There's no question that the broader ad market continues to face challenges, impacted by inflation, economic uncertainty and weaker demand from some categories. And while the industry isn't seeing the second half recovery we expected earlier in the year, there are a number of positive catalysts ahead that give us confidence as we continue to navigate the headwinds.

現在我們來談談廣告。毫無疑問，受通貨膨脹、經濟不確定性和某些類別需求疲軟的影響，更廣泛的廣告市場繼續面臨挑戰。儘管該行業並未出現我們今年早些時候預期的下半年復甦，但未來有許多積極的催化劑，讓我們在繼續克服逆風時充滿信心。

As in distribution, we have prepared for the advertising transition from linear to digital, and we've built the asset base and the team to prosper in it. On the supply side, continued growth in our streaming users and engagement means we will extend our position as one of the market's largest sources of high-quality digital video through EyeQ. In fact, we're now reaching over 100 million full episode monthly unique viewers in the U.S. alone. This audience will continue to grow as we launch Paramount+ Essential on Amazon channels in the U.S. in the coming months, and we're about to launch EyeQ globally, allowing marketers to operate multinational campaigns across Paramount's domestic and international digital platforms, all with a user-friendly single point of entry.

與分發方面一樣，我們已經為廣告從線性向數位化的轉變做好了準備，並且我們已經建立了資產基礎和團隊以在其中蓬勃發展。在供應方面，我們的串流媒體用戶和參與度的持續成長意味著我們將透過 EyeQ 擴大我們作為市場最大的高品質數位視訊來源之一的地位。事實上，光是在美國，我們的每月整集獨立觀眾數就已超過 1 億。未來幾個月，隨著我們在美國亞馬遜頻道推出Paramount+ Essential，這群受眾將持續成長，我們即將在全球推出EyeQ，讓行銷人員能夠在派拉蒙的國內和國際數位平台上進行跨國活動，所有這些活動都由一個用戶負責- 友好的單點入口。

In 2024, we will create even more opportunities for global ad growth. For example, in the U.K., we're launching a consolidated ad-supported offering that combines Channel 5's broadcast video-on-demand platform, MiFi with Pluto TV. We're also rolling out a new ad-supported tier for Paramount+ in select other markets including Australia and Canada. Simultaneously, we're strengthening our hand to better serve the demand side. We're enhancing and expanding the collection of first-party data across Paramount+ and Pluto TV. And we're continuing to bring in new advertisers into our digital video ecosystem from the large and growing small and medium business market. There are currently tens of thousands of longer tail advertisers buying across EyeQ as part of a programmatic only cohort, a cohort that only continues to grow. The fact is, CTV can compete for media budgets previously earmarked for other formats like social. And while we expand our business with long-tail video advertisers, Paramount remains very well positioned to serve larger clients through our direct sales force.

2024 年，我們將為全球廣告成長創造更多機會。例如，在英國，我們正在推出一項整合廣告支援的產品，將 Channel 5 的廣播視訊點播平台 MiFi 與 Pluto TV 結合在一起。我們也在澳洲和加拿大等特定其他市場推出了新的由廣告支援的 Paramount+ 套餐。同時，我們正在加大力度，更好地服務需求方。我們正在增強和擴展 Paramount+ 和 Pluto TV 的第一方資料收集。我們將繼續將新的廣告商從龐大且不斷成長的中小型企業市場引入我們的數位視訊生態系統。目前，有數以萬計的長尾廣告商在 EyeQ 上購買，作為純程式化群體的一部分，而這個群體只會繼續增長。事實上，CTV 可以爭奪先前專門用於社交媒體等其他格式的媒體預算。在我們透過長尾視訊廣告商拓展業務的同時，派拉蒙仍然能夠透過我們的直銷隊伍為更大的客戶提供服務。

There are a number of other bright spots anticipated in 2024, including the Super Bowl, where inventory is virtually sold out and it's an election year, so we can expect to see the benefit of higher political spending. Powering all of these opportunities is our world-class content, both our scale collection of first run and library IP. It's what draws viewers in and keeps them coming back. It's what makes us a first choice partner and what drives the continued success of our strategy. It's our greatest strength and remains our greatest focus.

預計 2024 年還會有許多其他亮點，包括超級碗，庫存幾乎已售罄，而且今年是選舉年，因此我們可以預期看到更高的政治支出的好處。為所有這些機會提供動力的是我們世界一流的內容，包括我們大規模的首次運作和圖書館智慧財產權收藏。這就是吸引觀眾並讓他們回來的原因。這使我們成為首選合作夥伴，也是推動我們策略持續成功的原因。這是我們最大的優勢，並且仍然是我們最大的關注點。

And as we're talking about content, I'd note that we're happy that WGA deal was reached and ratified. It's a deal that's good for our company and our industry. At the same time, you saw that we recently made some changes to our film slate, which has been impacted by the continued SAG-AFTRA strike. And while late night is back up and running, the scripted side of TV is still strike impacted. Obviously, we all hope to be back at work soon.

當我們談論內容時，我要指出的是，我們很高興 WGA 協議得以達成並獲得批准。這是一項對我們公司和產業都有好處的交易。同時，您也看到我們最近對電影片單進行了一些更改，這些更改受到了 SAG-AFTRA 持續罷工的影響。雖然深夜節目重新開始播放，但電視的劇本部分仍然受到罷工的影響。顯然，我們都希望盡快恢復工作。

Despite the dynamics we're navigating, you saw the power of our content in the quarter, whether it shows on Paramount+ like Special Ops: Lioness and [Mission: I], both of which were significant sources of fibers and engagement or CBS shows like Survivor, The Amazing Race and 60 Minutes as well as sports like the NFL, all of which drove audiences on linear and streaming. In fact, I'm happy to say the NFL on CBS is delivering its best season in viewership in years and its most streamed season to date on Paramount+ which, among other things, illustrates the power of our platforms in terms of reach and consumer engagement.

儘管我們的發展充滿活力，但您在本季度看到了我們內容的力量，無論是在派拉蒙+上播放的《特別行動：母獅》和《使命：I》（兩者都是纖維和參與度的重要來源）也是CBS 節目，如《倖存者》、《極速前進》、《60 分鐘》以及 NFL 等體育節目，所有這些都吸引了觀眾觀看線性節目和串流節目。事實上，我很高興地說，哥倫比亞廣播公司(CBS) 上的NFL 賽季是多年來收視率最高的賽季，也是派拉蒙+ (Paramount+) 上迄今為止收視率最高的賽季，這尤其說明了我們平台在影響力和消費者參與度方面的強大力量。

It's also about our kids and family franchises like Turtles and PAW Patrol, both of which had successful feature films. Films, which also drove a broader ecosystem of consumption on linear, streaming and at retail. And we look forward to future extensions, including the release of a new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series next year and a third PAW Patrol movie in 2026.

這也與我們的孩子和家庭特許經營權有關，例如《海龜》和《狗狗巡邏隊》，這兩部影片都有成功的長片。電影，也推動了更廣泛的線性、串流媒體和零售消費生態系統。我們期待未來的擴展，包括明年推出新的《忍者龜》系列，以及 2026 年推出第三部《狗狗巡邏隊》電影。

I also have to mention the Yellowstone universe. Over the last 5 years, over 100 million viewers globally have watched the Yellowstone franchise across platforms. Not only is Yellowstone a top franchise in the U.S., it's a top show for Paramount+ in markets, including the U.K., France, Canada and across Latin America. And it's another perfect example of how we use the combined power of our platforms and partners to extend reach, revenue and relevance of our biggest hit. This first-run content, combined with our massive library of titles from Spongebob to NCIS drove momentum across our platforms, including Pluto TV, as well as our third-party licensing business. This unique collection of world-class content is driving consumers, platforms and commercial activity with partners broadly speaking, and it's what makes Paramount one of the preeminent media companies in the world.

我還不得不提一下黃石宇宙。在過去 5 年裡，全球有超過 1 億觀眾透過平台觀看了黃石公園系列電影。 《黃石》不僅是美國的頂級劇集，也是派拉蒙+在英國、法國、加拿大和拉丁美洲等市場的頂級劇集。這是我們如何利用平台和合作夥伴的綜合力量來擴大我們最熱門作品的影響力、收入和相關性的另一個完美例子。這些首播內容與我們從《海綿寶寶》到《海軍罪案調查處》的海量圖書庫相結合，推動了我們平台（包括 Pluto TV）以及第三方授權業務的發展勢頭。廣泛而言，這種獨特的世界級內容集合正在推動消費者、平台和與合作夥伴的商業活動，這使得派拉蒙成為世界上傑出的媒體公司之一。

Finally, I want to leave you with 2 points. First, with content at the core, Paramount's combination of advertising, subscription and licensing revenue streams continues to provide attractive growth opportunities and diversification. This is particularly important during a period of rapid industry evolution. And second, now that we remain laser-focused on execution and our return to earnings growth in 2024.

最後，我想給大家留下兩點。首先，以內容為核心，派拉蒙的廣告、訂閱和授權收入流組合繼續提供有吸引力的成長機會和多元化。這在產業快速發展時期尤其重要。其次，現在我們仍然專注於執行力和 2024 年獲利成長的回歸。

With that, I'll hand it to Naveen to walk you through our numbers and provide additional commentary. Naveen?

接下來，我將把它交給 Naveen，讓您了解我們的數據並提供更多評論。納文？

Thank you, Bob, and good afternoon, everyone. As Bob outlined, we've made substantial progress in improving DTC earnings year-to-date and now expect to deliver lower full year DTC losses in 2023 than in 2022, with further improvement next year as we return to consolidated earnings growth. Broadly speaking, Paramount's Q3 results reflect 2 important takeaways: strong momentum in our DTC business, and our ability to navigate in a challenging environment by focusing on operational efficiencies across the company.

謝謝鮑勃，大家下午好。正如鮑伯所概述的那樣，我們今年迄今在改善DTC 收益方面取得了實質進展，現在預計2023 年全年DTC 損失將低於2022 年，隨著明年我們恢復綜合收益增長，這一損失將進一步改善。從廣義上講，派拉蒙第三季的業績反映了兩個重要要點：我們的 DTC 業務勢頭強勁，以及我們透過專注於整個公司的營運效率在充滿挑戰的環境中駕馭的能力。

In my comments today, I will provide additional insights on key elements of our Q3 results. I'll also discuss our expectations for Q4 and outline our path ahead.

在今天的評論中，我將提供有關第三季業績關鍵要素的更多見解。我還將討論我們對第四季度的期望並概述我們未來的道路。

Let's begin with our Q3 results. We delivered total company revenue of $7.1 billion and adjusted OIBDA of $716 million. You'll find a comprehensive review of our key financial results in our press release. But let me walk you through a few important areas.

讓我們從第三季的結果開始。我們實現公司總營收 71 億美元，調整後的 OIBDA 為 7.16 億美元。您可以在我們的新聞稿中找到我們主要財務業績的全面回顧。但讓我帶您了解幾個重要領域。

First, affiliate and subscription revenue, which grew 14% in Q3. This demonstrates the power of our multi-platform strategy and affirms that the combination of traditional and streaming continues to yield growth for our business. In TV media, affiliate revenue reflects a continuation of the trends we saw in the first half of the year. This quarter, affiliate and subscription revenue included 2 pay-per-view events, which benefited both our TV media and DTC segments.

首先是聯盟和訂閱收入，第三季成長了 14%。這證明了我們多平台策略的力量，並證實了傳統和串流媒體的結合將繼續為我們的業務帶來成長。在電視媒體中，聯盟行銷收入反映了我們在今年上半年看到的趨勢的延續。本季度，聯盟行銷和訂閱收入包括 2 場按次付費活動，這使我們的電視媒體和 DTC 部門受益。

DTC subscription revenue grew 46% in Q3, anchored by over 60% growth in Paramount+ subscription revenue. This growth was achieved through a combination of healthy subscriber additions and global ARPU expansion. Paramount+ added 2.7 million subscribers this quarter, even as we lost 1.3 million Latin American subs due to the restructuring of a legacy hard bundle deal, which we previewed on our last earnings call.

第三季度，DTC 訂閱收入成長了 46%，派拉蒙+訂閱收入成長了 60% 以上。這一成長是透過健康的用戶增加和全球 ARPU 擴張相結合實現的。 Paramount+ 本季增加了 270 萬訂戶，儘管我們因重組傳統的硬捆綁交易而損失了 130 萬拉丁美洲訂戶（我們在上次財報電話會議上對此進行了預覽）。

Q3 was also the first full quarter in which the new Paramount+ with Showtime service was operational. As expected, this offerings expanded content proposition led to increased engagement among premium tier subscribers. In fact, for premium subs, hours of engagement grew 17%. Simultaneous with the launch of Paramount+ with Showtime, we increased monthly pricing, which helped Paramount+ ARPU grow 16%. I should note here that the price increases took effect at different times for different subscriber cohorts throughout the quarter, meaning we won't see the full ARPU benefit of the price increase until Q4.

第三季也是新的 Paramount+ 與 Showtime 服務投入營運的第一個完整季度。正如預期的那樣，該產品擴展了內容主張，從而提高了高端訂戶的參與度。事實上，對於高級訂閱者來說，參與時間增加了 17%。在與 Showtime 合作推出 Paramount+ 的同時，我們提高了每月定價，這幫助 Paramount+ ARPU 成長了 16%。我應該在這裡指出，整個季度不同用戶群的價格上漲在不同時間生效，這意味著我們要到第四季度才能看到價格上漲帶來的全部 ARPU 收益。

In addition, we were pleased that domestic monthly churn continued to improve year-over-year despite the price increase, demonstrating the popularity and stickiness of our content. From a bottom line perspective, strong revenue trends, together with significant improvements in our DTC operating leverage contributed to a 31% year-over-year improvement in DTC OIBDA in the quarter. Looking ahead, we expect strong DTC revenue growth with another quarter of healthy sub growth. That said, Q4 DTC losses will be similar to the year ago period. This reflects higher sports costs as well as higher marketing costs to support our broader geographic footprint as most of our Western European launches occurred late in the fourth quarter of 2022.

此外，我們很高興的是，儘管價格上漲，但國內每月流失率繼續同比改善，這表明了我們內容的受歡迎程度和黏性。從獲利角度來看，強勁的營收趨勢以及 DTC 營運槓桿的顯著改善使得本季 DTC OIDA 較去年同期成長 31%。展望未來，我們預期 DTC 營收將強勁成長，子業務將再成長一個季度。也就是說，第四季 DTC 損失將與去年同期相似。這反映了更高的體育成本以及更高的行銷成本，以支持我們更廣泛的地理足跡，因為我們的大部分西歐發布都是在 2022 年第四季末進行的。

Nonetheless, as I noted earlier, we now expect full year DTC losses in 2023 to be lower than 2022, meaning we are ahead of plan in moving the DTC business toward profitability. The ongoing execution of our streaming strategy will yield further improvement in 2024 as we continue to drive subscriber growth, user engagement and Paramount+ global ARPU growth in excess of 20%. In addition, we remain focused on building operating leverage by capturing the benefits of integrating Paramount+ Showtime, optimizing our programming strategy to efficiently target key audience segments and further expanding our international footprint in a financially efficient way.

儘管如此，正如我之前指出的，我們現在預計 2023 年全年 DTC 虧損將低於 2022 年，這意味著我們在推動 DTC 業務實現盈利方面提前了計劃。隨著我們繼續推動訂閱者成長、用戶參與度和 Paramount+ 全球 ARPU 成長超過 20%，我們串流媒體策略的持續執行將在 2024 年帶來進一步改善。此外，我們仍然致力於透過整合 Paramount+ Showtime 的優勢來建立營運槓桿，優化我們的節目策略以有效地瞄準關鍵受眾群體，並以財務有效的方式進一步擴大我們的國際足跡。

Now let's discuss advertising. Direct-to-consumer advertising growth remained strong at 18%, benefiting from 46% growth in total viewing hours across Paramount+ and Pluto TV. This quarter's growth continues to position Paramount as one of the largest digital video advertising platforms with a unique direct programmatic business that leverages deep relationships with advertisers and agencies.

現在我們來討論一下廣告。直接面向消費者的廣告成長依然強勁，達到 18%，這得益於 Paramount+ 和 Pluto TV 的總觀看時長成長 46%。本季的成長繼續使派拉蒙成為最大的數位影片廣告平台之一，擁有獨特的直接程式化業務，利用與廣告商和代理商的深厚關係。

TV media advertising revenue declined 14%. We did see strong sports demand and healthy year-over-year growth in key categories like automotive, CPG and alcohol. But significant categories like tech and pharma were weaker than we would like. Additionally, reduced political spend, strike-related impacts and international headwinds, including from FX, negatively impacted the year-over-year performance.

電視媒體廣告收入下降14%。我們確實看到了汽車、消費品和酒精等關鍵類別的強勁體育需求和健康的同比增長。但科技和製藥等重要類別的表現比我們想像的還要弱。此外，政治支出減少、罷工相關影響以及包括外匯在內的國際阻力也對年比表現產生了負面影響。

Looking ahead to Q4, advertising growth will continue to be impacted by a sizable decline in political advertising. We're seeing modest improvement in domestic linear advertising, but we continue to deal with strike impact and international weakness, which will limit improvement in the year-over-year trend.

展望第四季度，廣告成長將持續受到政治廣告大幅下降的影響。我們看到國內線性廣告略有改善，但我們繼續應對罷工影響和國際疲軟，這將限制同比趨勢的改善。

Shifting gears a bit, I'd like to provide additional detail regarding the financial impact of the strikes. In Q3, total company OIBDA included nearly $60 million of strike-related idle costs. These are incremental expenses incurred to retain production capabilities while the strike is ongoing. These costs impacted both our TV Media and Filmed Entertainment segments. We expect to incur additional strike-related idle costs in Q4. However, the magnitude of these incremental expenses will depend on when the active strike is resolved, which, of course, we hope happens soon.

換個話題，我想提供更多有關罷工財務影響的細節。第三季度，公司 OIBDA 總計包含近 6,000 萬美元的與罷工相關的閒置成本。這些是在罷工持續期間為保持生產能力而產生的增量費用。這些成本影響了我們的電視媒體和電影娛樂部門。我們預計第四季將產生額外的與罷工相關的閒置成本。然而，這些增量開支的大小將取決於主動罷工何時得到解決，當然，我們希望這很快就會發生。

Now I'll turn to Filmed Entertainment. Revenue was up 14%, benefiting from the theatrical performance of Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem. OIBDA was a loss of $49 million, which reflects release timing and film performance but also includes the impact of the strikes. In addition to the idle costs I described above, the strike also negatively affected revenue from third-party studio rental and production services. This had a roughly $20 million impact on Filmed Entertainment OIBDA in the quarter.

現在我要談談電影娛樂。由於《碟中諜6：航位推算》和《忍者龜：突變混亂》的戲劇表演，收入成長了 14%。 OIBDA 損失 4900 萬美元，這反映了上映時間和電影表現，但也包括罷工的影響。除了我上面描述的閒置成本之外，罷工也對第三方工作室租賃和製作服務的收入產生了負面影響。這對本季電影娛樂 OIBDA 產生了約 2000 萬美元的影響。

Bob has spoken about how we're remaining adaptable and strategic in the face of industry-wide change. That includes proactively managing our cost base as we transform our business for the future. Earlier, I mentioned some of the initiatives we're prioritizing to improve DTC operating leverage. We also continue to identify new efficiency opportunities through disciplined expense management across segments, in content, in marketing and overhead. Our decisions to reduce real estate footprint, prioritize content investments with global appeal, combined international broadcast video-on-demand platforms with Pluto TV and centralized more marketing activity are just a few examples of our ongoing and relentless focus on expense management and will all contribute to earnings growth next year.

鮑伯談到了我們如何在面對全行業的變化時保持適應性和策略性。這包括在我們面向未來進行業務轉型時主動管理我們的成本基礎。早些時候，我提到了我們優先考慮的一些旨在提高 DTC 營運槓桿的措施。我們也繼續透過跨部門、內容、行銷和管理費用的嚴格費用管理來尋找新的效率機會。我們決定減少房地產足跡、優先考慮具有全球吸引力的內容投資、將國際廣播視訊點播平台與Pluto TV 相結合以及集中更多的營銷活動，這些只是我們持續不懈地關注費用管理的幾個例子，這些都將做出貢獻明年的獲利成長。

Moving on to free cash flow. Free cash flow in Q3 was $377 million, and we expect strong free cash flow in Q4 as the strike continues to limit the production of content. Some of the programming changes we've made in response to the strike will be sustained, resulting in lower steady-state production spend and improved cash flow across the 2-year period of 2023 and 2024, which will also benefit leverage.

轉向自由現金流。第三季的自由現金流為 3.77 億美元，由於罷工繼續限制內容製作，我們預計第四季度的自由現金流將強勁。我們為應對罷工而做出的一些計劃調整將持續下去，從而降低 2023 年和 2024 年兩年期間的穩態生產支出並改善現金流，這也將有利於槓桿率。

We also closed on the sale of Simon & Schuster earlier this week, which generated approximately $1.3 billion in after-tax proceeds. These proceeds will improve year-end net leverage by approximately 1/2 turn. Today, we announced a $1 billion tender offer for some of our upcoming debt maturities. Not only will this reduce gross debt, but it will extend our maturity profile thereby enhancing financial flexibility. Additionally, next year, the full year benefit of the dividend reduction, together with our expectation for growth in total company earnings will improve leverage even further.

本週早些時候，我們還完成了 Simon & Schuster 的出售，該交易產生了約 13 億美元的稅後收益。這些收益將使年末淨槓桿率提高約 1/2 倍。今天，我們宣布對部分即將到期的債務提出 10 億美元的收購要約。這不僅會減少總債務，而且會延長我們的期限，從而增強財務靈活性。此外，明年，股息減少的全年效益，加上我們對公司總獲利成長的預期，將進一步提高槓桿率。

In closing, I want to reiterate that despite a changing environment, our commitment to investors remains the same. We are well positioned to deliver significant consolidated earnings growth in 2024. We'll continue to improve DTC earnings through a combination of subscriber growth, healthy global ARPU expansion, and operational efficiency. And we remain highly focused on maximizing earnings from our traditional networks by proactively managing expenses in these areas. We continue to believe that successfully transitioning Paramount's business will yield significant long-term value creation for our shareholders.

最後，我想重申，儘管環境發生變化，我們對投資人的承諾始終如一。我們有能力在 2024 年實現顯著的綜合獲利成長。我們將透過用戶成長、全球 ARPU 健康擴張和營運效率的結合，繼續提高 DTC 收益。我們仍然高度關注透過主動管理這些領域的費用來最大化傳統網路的收入。我們仍然相信，派拉蒙業務的成功轉型將為我們的股東帶來顯著的長期價值創造。

And with that, operator, can you please open the line for questions.

那麼，接線員，您可以開通提問線路嗎？

(Operator Instructions) Our first question today go to Michael Morris of Guggenheim.

（操作員說明）今天我們的第一個問題是向古根漢的麥可莫里斯提出的。

Thank you for all the details. Bob, you talked about the carriage agreement. The new agreement between Disney and Charter and the streaming app side of the business. But can you share thoughts about the elimination of carriage of some channels that came in with that agreement and whether that's something that you expect to work through as you do renewals in the future and how that might impact the business?

感謝您提供所有詳細資訊。鮑勃，你談到了運輸協議。迪士尼和 Charter 之間的新協議以及串流應用程式方面的業務。但您能否分享一下關於取消該協議附帶的某些頻道運輸的想法，以及您是否希望在未來續訂時解決這一問題，以及這可能會對業務產生怎樣的影響？

And sorry, if I could just add one other. If we look at the '24 outlook for returning to earnings growth, Naveen, could you maybe talk a little bit about what that assumes for the advertising environment and cost growth at direct-to-consumer?

抱歉，如果我可以再增加一個。如果我們看看 24 年恢復獲利成長的前景，納文，您能否談談對廣告環境和直接面向消費者的成本成長的假設？

Yes. Sure, Mike, happy to. Look, there's been a lot of conversation about this topic, Disney - Charter, if you will. And if we end up going in this direction with some partners -- and by the way, it's not clear that all partners want to go this direction. But if we go this direction, we think it could be an accretive development. And I'll talk about the DTC side and the channel side.

是的。當然，麥克，很高興。聽著，如果你願意的話，關於迪士尼憲章這個話題已經有很多討論了。如果我們最終與一些合作夥伴一起朝這個方向發展——順便說一句，目前還不清楚所有合作夥伴都想朝這個方向發展。但如果我們朝這個方向發展，我們認為這可能會是個增值性的發展。我將談論 DTC 方面和通道方面。

So first, in many respects, this is a domestic hard bundle idea. And we've seen clear benefits with international hard bundles, namely increased subs, no acquisition cost and lower churn. That is offset by a lower potential DTC unit revenue, given that in some shape or form, you'll be dealing with a wholesale structure. But still, when you net it all, we see the LTV as compelling.

所以首先，從很多方面來說，這是一個國內硬捆綁的想法。我們已經看到了國際硬捆綁的明顯好處，即增加了訂閱者、無採購成本和降低了客戶流失率。鑑於您將在某種形式上處理批發結構，因此潛在的 DTC 單位收入較低可以抵消這種影響。但是，當你把這一切都考慮在內時，我們認為 LTV 仍然很有吸引力。

Also, I would point out importantly that we've seen these hard bundles actually catalyze DTC growth through channel stores and O&O, et cetera, which is obviously a positive. So there are puts and takes to this piece, but the aggregate value that we've seen is clearly positive. When you extend the question to the broader distributor economic relationship, obviously, that includes linear channels, if you will.

另外，我要指出的是，我們已經看到這些硬捆綁實際上透過通路商店和 O&O 等促進了 DTC 的成長，這顯然是正面的。因此，這一部分有看跌期權和索取期權，但我們看到的總價值顯然是積極的。當您將問題擴展到更廣泛的經銷商經濟關係時，顯然，如果您願意的話，這也包括線性管道。

Remember, all major deals include premium networks, advanced ad sales and data relationships, as well as marketing partnerships, plus in some cases, there are film and other types of content output deals. So there are a lot of levers here to pull as you get to what ends up being a bespoke solution.

請記住，所有主要交易都包括優質網路、高級廣告銷售和數據關係以及行銷合作夥伴關係，此外在某些情況下還包括電影和其他類型的內容輸出交易。因此，當您獲得最終的客製化解決方案時，有很多槓桿可以使用。

And again, I'd look to international. We've done this internationally, as discussed on prior earnings calls, the result was DTC was launched, revenue was remixed a bit, total revenue increased. And importantly, to your question, no linear channels were dropped. So in aggregate, that's clearly a positive outcome.

我再次將目光投向國際。正如之前的財報電話會議所討論的那樣，我們已經在國際上做到了這一點，結果是推出了 DTC，收入進行了一些重新混合，總收入增加了。重要的是，對於你的問題，沒有線性通道被丟棄。總的來說，這顯然是一個積極的結果。

And lastly, on a related point, I'd note that we've already done a number of P+ with Showtime deals with major operators in the U.S. where they get credentials for the Showtime linear subs, as an example. And we like those very much. So again, we think this is an interesting accretive -- potentially accretive development. We don't know if it applies broadly but we're excited by it. And to you, Naveen.

最後，在一個相關的問題上，我要指出的是，我們已經與美國的主要營運商達成了一些 P+ 與 Showtime 協議，例如，他們獲得了 Showtime 線性潛艇的憑證。我們非常喜歡這些。所以，我們再次認為這是一個有趣的增值——潛在的增值發展。我們不知道它是否廣泛適用，但我們對此感到興奮。還有你，納文。

Yes. Mike, with respect to earnings in 2024, I'd note a few things. I mean, first, we remain very focused on delivering consolidated earnings growth next year. In terms of the composition of that, the TV Media side of the business, we assume we'll continue to benefit from cost reductions. Obviously, get some tailwind on the advertising side from the Super Bowl and political, all of which help offset continued evolution in the linear ecosystem.

是的。麥克，關於 2024 年的收益，我想指出一些事情。我的意思是，首先，我們仍然非常專注於實現明年的綜合獲利成長。就電視媒體業務的組成而言，我們認為我們將繼續受益於成本降低。顯然，從超級盃和政治中獲得廣告方面的一些順風，所有這些都有助於抵消線性生態系統的持續發展。

I would say that we -- with respect to the advertising market specifically, we do expect it to improve in 2024. Obviously, the exact magnitude of that would be a little too early to call but we have a number of levers that we can pull to adjust our plan depending on what we see in the advertising market to ensure that we're achieving our desired level of earnings.

我想說的是，特別是在廣告市場方面，我們確實預計它會在 2024 年有所改善。顯然，現在判斷具體的幅度還為時過早，但我們有許多可以利用的槓桿根據我們在廣告市場上看到的情況調整我們的計劃，以確保我們達到我們期望的收入水平。

On the DTC side of the business, we continue to expect significant improvement in the DTC P&L. That is a combination of both top line growth and improved operating leverage. I've talked about some of the drivers there in the past, includes things like growth in subs, continued improvement in engagement and ARPU both on the subscription and advertising side. It improves -- it involves continued improvement in churn as well as lower growth in content, marketing and operational expenses. So those are the drivers. It's, I think, too early to put specific numbers around that, given some of the uncertainty, both in the advertising marketplace as well as timing of content availability, but doesn't change the fact that there are a number of levers that contribute to year-over-year earnings growth.

在 DTC 業務方面，我們繼續預期 DTC 損益表將顯著改善。這是收入成長和營運槓桿改善的結合。我過去曾討論過其中的一些驅動因素，包括訂閱人數的成長、訂閱和廣告方面參與度和 ARPU 的持續改善。它有所改善——涉及客戶流失率的持續改善以及內容、行銷和營運費用成長的放緩。這些就是驅動因素。我認為，考慮到廣告市場以及內容可用性時間方面的一些不確定性，現在給出具體數字還為時過早，但這並不能改變有許多槓桿可以促進這一點的事實。盈利同比增長。

Our next question goes to you, Ben Swinburne of Morgan Stanley.

我們的下一個問題是問你，摩根士丹利的本‧斯溫伯恩。

I guess 2 questions. Bob, could you talk a little bit about your kind of longer-term ambitions for Paramount on the film slate? I know the slate has been impacted -- excuse me, by the strike, but there's a lot of momentum in the IP there. I'm just wondering if you could talk about maybe over the next couple of years, what you think the studio should be doing in terms of number of wide releases and what your strategy is to maximize value for the studio?

我猜有2個問題。鮑勃，你能談談你對派拉蒙在電影方面的長期抱負嗎？我知道該項目已經受到了影響——對不起，受到了罷工的影響，但是那裡的智慧財產權有很大的動力。我只是想知道你是否可以談談在接下來的幾年裡，你認為工作室在廣泛發行的數量方面應該做什麼，以及你的策略是什麼來最大化工作室的價值？

And then Naveen, since you're being very helpful with '24, I thought I would push a little further just to take a swing. Is there a way you could help us think about like total cash content spending year-on-year '24 versus '23 or even total OpEx for the company growth? Because the allocation between segments gets pretty tricky for us externally. So just kind of think maybe more bigger picture on cost in '24 would be helpful.

然後 Naveen，既然你對《24》非常有幫助，我想我會更進一步，只是為了採取行動。您是否可以幫助我們考慮 24 年與 23 年同比的總現金內容支出，甚至是公司成長的總營運支出？因為從外部來看，段之間的分配對我們來說非常棘手。因此，想想也許對 24 年的成本有更宏觀的了解會有所幫助。

Yes. Sure, Ben. Obviously, let me start there. When you look at Paramount and you look at the slate, the word that comes to my mind is balance. And what I mean by that is a mix of titles from a target market and a genre perspective, by the way, they saw 5 titles opened at #1 in this year. We've obviously got a range of budget levels in there from modest to larger and a mix of franchises and new ideas. And so let's talk a little about franchises since, I think that's part of your question. Look, we continue to believe in them. We have seen our franchises contribute significant value really across the business because, again, we use Paramount Pictures as part of an integrated strategy. Theatrical window is very much a launch pad, but it yields other benefits beyond theatrical.

是的。當然，本。顯然，讓我從這裡開始。當你看到派拉蒙並看到名單時，我腦海中浮現的單字是平衡。我的意思是，從目標市場和類型的角度來看，他們看到了 5 部作品在今年開盤時排名第一。顯然，我們有一系列的預算水平，從適度到較大，以及特許經營和新想法的組合。所以讓我們來談談特許經營權，因為我認為這是你問題的一部分。看，我們繼續相信他們。我們已經看到我們的特許經營權確實為整個業務貢獻了巨大的價值，因為我們再次將派拉蒙影業作為綜合策略的一部分。戲劇窗口在很大程度上是一個發射台，但它也帶來戲劇以外的其他好處。

Look at the kids and family genre, clearly, a strong point in the quarter. You had Turtles and PAW Patrol. Those are both successful feature films, but they really drove a broader ecosystem of consumption on our platforms and at retail. In terms of consumption, it's worth noting that, again, both in linear and streaming, we saw a significant library benefit as well as traction from the new releases. And the retail value creation has been significant.

看看兒童和家庭類型，顯然這是本季的一大亮點。你有海龜和狗狗巡邏隊。這些都是成功的長片，但它們確實推動了我們平台和零售領域更廣泛的消費生態系統。在消費方面，值得注意的是，無論是在線性還是串流媒體方面，我們都看到了庫的顯著優勢以及新版本的吸引力。零售價值創造也十分顯著。

On the Turtle side, it's actually the fastest-growing action figure brand in the U.S., and it was #1 in August. And on the PAW side, we've got the biggest (technical difficulty) brand in merchandise. So that's clearly additive. It's part of the reason we feel great about our franchise strategy.

在 Turtle 方面，它實際上是美國成長最快的人偶品牌，八月排名第一。在 PAW 方面，我們擁有最大（技術難度）的商品品牌。所以這顯然是附加的。這是我們對我們的特許經營策略感到滿意的部分原因。

In terms of where we go over the next couple of years, we like the slate. It continues to be balanced. It continues to have range from genre and target market perspective, it continues to have range from -- on budget. And again, it's a mix of franchises and new ideas.

就我們未來幾年的發展方向而言，我們喜歡這個石板。它繼續保持平衡。從類型和目標市場的角度來看，它仍然具有一定的範圍，它仍然具有預算範圍。再說一次，它是特許經營和新想法的結合。

If you look in the near term, we have the Bob Marley picture, One Love. That looks like a good sort of original idea, but clearly, a topic that people know. We got another Gladiator movie that we're very excited about and then more franchises, A Quiet Place, Mean Girls, Smile, Transformers, Sonic. So there's a lot going on there in the near term. But again, you can assume the slate continues in that vein, but scales a bit. We're probably in the 8-ish release volume in the last year or 2, that number probably ticks up marginally over time. Maybe we get up to a dozen in a couple of years. But again, I think we're going to -- I know we're going to feel a very balanced slate. We're going to continue to drive franchises. We're going to get value across business. And we're going to demonstrate what an incredible asset Paramount Pictures continues to be. Naveen?

如果你看一下近期的情況，我們會看到 Bob Marley 的照片《One Love》。這看起來是一個很好的原創想法，但顯然，這是一個人們都知道的話題。我們還有另一部讓我們非常興奮的《角鬥士》電影，然後還有更多系列電影，《噤界》、《賤女孩》、《微笑》、《變形金剛》、《索尼克》。因此，短期內將會發生很多事情。但同樣，你可以假設石板會繼續這種風格，但會稍微縮放。我們可能在過去一兩年內發布了 8 個左右的版本，隨著時間的推移，這個數字可能會略有上升。也許幾年後我們會增加到十幾個。但我再次強調，我認為我們會——我知道我們會感到非常平衡。我們將繼續推動特許經營。我們將在整個業務中獲得價值。我們將展示派拉蒙影業仍然是多麼令人難以置信的資產。納文？

Yes, Ben, with respect to your comment on long-term content spending, I won't answer it in the context of '24 specifically because, as you know, '23 and '24 are going to be materially impacted by the effect of the strikes. And I think what you're actually more interested in is what is the sort of more organic long-term trend. And to that, I would say that we've got a long-term baseline in which cash -- cash content spend grows at low single digits.

是的，Ben，關於您對長期內容支出的評論，我不會在 24 年的背景下回答它，因為正如您所知，23 和 24 年將受到罷工。我認為您實際上更感興趣的是哪種更有機的長期趨勢。對此，我想說的是，我們有一個長期基準，現金支出以較低的個位數成長。

However, as I noted last quarter, our long-term content strategy is not about solving for some specific volume of content. It's about having the right content for the right audience at the right time. And we are laser-focused on continuing to find ways to further improve the efficiency of our content spend in both linear and streaming, and there's a variety of things that we're doing to accomplish that. It includes things like finding new ways to leverage content across both our streaming and linear platforms across geographies. You've seen us do a lot of that over the course of the last couple of quarters. It includes leading into franchises, which are fundamentally more efficient from the perspective of building awareness, driving engagement and such, and it includes leveraging partners for local content, particularly in smaller international markets, as you heard Bob mention earlier.

然而，正如我在上個季度指出的那樣，我們的長期內容策略並不是解決某些特定數量的內容。這是在正確的時間為正確的受眾提供正確的內容。我們專注於繼續尋找進一步提高線性和串流內容支出效率的方法，並且我們正在採取多種措施來實現這一目標。它包括尋找新的方法來利用我們跨地域的串流媒體和線性平台上的內容。在過去的幾個季度中，您已經看到我們做了很多這樣的事情。它包括引入特許經營權，從建立知名度、推動參與度等角度來看，特許經營權從根本上來說更加高效，還包括利用合作夥伴提供本地內容，特別是在較小的國際市場，正如您之前聽到鮑伯提到的。

And now we've got a whole lot of data that we're able to use to better understand how to super serve these key audience segments in the most efficient way possible. So when you put all those initiatives together, from my perspective, it means there's an opportunity to improve the long-term growth rate of cash content spend relative to that low single-digit baseline.

現在我們已經獲得了大量數據，我們可以使用這些數據來更好地了解如何以最有效的方式為這些關鍵受眾群體提供超級服務。因此，從我的角度來看，當你將所有這些舉措放在一起時，這意味著相對於較低的個位數基線，有機會提高現金內容支出的長期成長率。

Our next question goes to Jessica Reif Ehrlich of Bank of America.

我們的下一個問題是向美國銀行的傑西卡·雷夫·埃利希提出的。

So first, impairment appears to have walked away from a number of potential asset sales in the last year or so. What would you consider the optimal portfolio mix for Paramount? And then just on advertising. Advertising for DTC grew 18%, but your viewing hours were up 46%. I'm not sure what's Paramount+ and what's Pluto, but maybe you can talk about what -- it is a tepid market, but how do you think you can close that gap?

首先，在過去一年左右的時間裡，減損似乎已經從一些潛在的資產出售中消失了。您認為派拉蒙的最佳投資組合是什麼？然後就是廣告。 DTC 的廣告增加了 18%，但您的觀看時間增加了 46%。我不確定什麼是派拉蒙+，什麼是冥王星，但也許你可以談談——這是一個不溫不火的市場，但你認為如何縮小這一差距？

Yes. Sure, Jessica. I'll take those. On the M&A side, 2 points. One is we continue to look to noncore asset dispositions, and we do that principally as a value unlock to reduce leverage. And that was clearly the case with Simon & Schuster and we continue to look at some additional opportunities, but I'm not going to comment on anything specific in that regard.

是的。當然，傑西卡。我會接受那些。併購方面，2分。一是我們繼續尋求非核心資產處置，我們這樣做主要是為了釋放價值以降低槓桿率。西蒙與舒斯特公司的情況顯然就是如此，我們將繼續尋找一些額外的機會，但我不會就這方面的任何具體內容發表評論。

I think second, on a big picture level, we've really honed the core asset composition of this company, and it is dare I say, strategic and logical. It's fundamentally long-form video-centric, both with robust production and very large libraries and our clear synergies in terms of how we maximize revenue and drive operating efficiency across the business. So again, these pieces work together.

我認為第二，從大局來看，我們確實磨練了這家公司的核心資產組成，而且我敢說，具有策略性和邏輯性。它基本上以長視頻為中心，擁有強大的製作和非常大的庫，以及我們在如何最大化收入和提高整個業務運營效率方面的明顯協同效應。同樣，這些部分協同工作。

That said, when it comes to M&A, we're always open-minded, and we look at opportunities, potential opportunities through the lens of really how can we maximize shareholder value. In terms of the ad market and the digital ad market, in particular, as you know, digital growth was 18% in the quarter. Quite strong in the grand scheme of things. It is a meaningful business for us in terms of size. EyeQ, which is the fundamental trading umbrella for it. It's a multibillion dollar business. Product reaches over 100 million full episode viewers in the U.S. So it's a very meaningful complement to linear.

也就是說，在併購方面，我們始終持開放態度，我們透過真正如何實現股東價值最大化的視角來看待機會和潛在機會。尤其是在廣告市場和數位廣告市場方面，如您所知，本季數位成長率為 18%。在宏偉的計劃中相當強大。就規模而言，這對我們來說是一項有意義的業務。 EyeQ，這是它的基本交易保護傘。這是一項價值數十億美元的業務。該產品在美國擁有超過 1 億的整集觀眾，因此它是線性節目的非常有意義的補充。

We're doing a number of things, which gets to your question, to continue to drive this going forward, and they really tied it to both the supply side and the demand side. On the supply side, we are focused on continuing to grow engagement. And as you point out, viewing hours grew 46% in the third quarter. We're also going to launch Paramount+ Essential on Amazon. That will be an additional inventory creation vehicle.

我們正在做很多事情，這引起了你的問題，以繼續推動這一進程，他們確實將其與供應方和需求方聯繫起來。在供應方面，我們致力於持續提高參與度。正如您所指出的，第三季的觀看時長成長了 46%。我們也將在亞馬遜上推出 Paramount+ Essential。這將是一個額外的庫存創建工具。

And as we noted in our remarks, we're expanding internationally both in the context of Pluto TV and Paramount+ ad-supported tiers, including what we're doing in the BVOD space in some of our broadcast markets. So we'll unquestionably grow supply, then we go to the demand side, i.e., filling that supply with advertising business. Start with the undeniable appeal of premium content to advertisers and we do deliver it in a brand-safe, high-quality environment and we prosecute that and facilitate access to it through both direct and programmatic channels, making us easy to do business.

正如我們在演講中指出的，我們正在 Pluto TV 和 Paramount+ 廣告支援層的背景下進行國際擴張，包括我們在一些廣播市場的 BVOD 領域所做的事情。因此，我們毫無疑問會增加供應，然後我們轉向需求方，也就是用廣告業務來填補供應。首先，優質內容對廣告商具有不可否認的吸引力，我們確實在品牌安全、高品質的環境中提供這些內容，我們透過直接和程序化管道促進並促進對這些內容的訪問，使我們能夠輕鬆開展業務。

We are also enhancing the quality of what we call signal, and that's increasing the amount of data associated with streaming consumption and that enables more precise campaigns for marketers. We believe that's important to monetizing the incremental inventory we're creating. And we'll also have a whole initiative targeting the SMB sector, small and medium-sized business. That's bringing new advertisers into our digital video ecosystem and also giving them improved self-service tools, that's been growing, plus we see a lot of potential there. And we're actually adding some incremental expertise to the sales force to prosecute it.

我們也提高了訊號的質量，這增加了與串流媒體消費相關的數據量，並為行銷人員提供了更精準的行銷活動。我們相信這對於將我們正在創建的增量庫存貨幣化非常重要。我們還將針對中小企業部門、中小型企業制定整體計劃。這將新的廣告商帶入我們的數位視訊生態系統，並為他們提供改進的自助服務工具，這種工具一直在增長，我們看到了那裡的巨大潛力。實際上，我們正​​在為銷售團隊增加一些增量專業知識來推動這一目標。

So we're doing a bunch of things to ensure that we're continuing to create supply, maintain our scale position in this market and then drive the monetization by increasing further the appeal of that to our clients and their respective agencies. And I'm quite confident that, that combination will serve us well in the marketplace in 2024 and beyond.

因此，我們正在做很多事情來確保我們繼續創造供應，保持我們在這個市場的規模地位，然後透過進一步增加對我們的客戶及其各自機構的吸引力來推動貨幣化。我非常有信心，這種組合將為我們在 2024 年及以後的市場上提供良好的服務。

And Bob, if I could just add one thing to clarify. Jessica, with respect to the numbers you mentioned. Just keep in mind that the engagement growth that you saw there, the 46%, that includes a significant amount of engagement growth in the premium ad-free tier of Paramount+. So you should not expect that to necessarily be a proxy for advertising growth.

鮑勃，我可以補充一件事來澄清嗎？傑西卡，關於你提到的數字。請記住，您在那裡看到的 46% 的參與度成長，其中包括 Paramount+ 高級無廣告層中的大量參與度成長。因此，您不應期望這一定是廣告成長的代表。

Our next question goes to Rich Greenfield of LightShed Partners.

我們的下一個問題是由 LightShed Partners 的 Rich Greenfield 提出的。

Bob, Naveen, when you think about sports, I think there's really no debating the direct link between the NFL and Retrans not just for Paramount, but for everyone in the industry. But I think what a lot of investors are trying to figure out is sort of what happens with all other sports. And just given what's happening in the Pay-TV ecosystem, and you obviously talked pretty openly about the challenges facing the ad market. I'm just wondering, as you think about other sports, things like the NBA are coming up. Obviously, there's been sort of live entertainment programming like WWE available. I'm just curious, as you think about sports licensing costs going forward, do you believe that they have to sort of be justified fully on advertising revenue alone? Or like how do you think about how you buy sports rights or licensed sports rights going forward? That would be really helpful.

鮑勃、納文，當你想到體育時，我認為 NFL 和 Retrans 之間的直接聯繫確實沒有爭議，不僅對派拉蒙來說，而且對這個行業的每個人來說都是如此。但我認為很多投資者都在試圖弄清楚所有其他運動會發生什麼。考慮到付費電視生態系統中正在發生的事情，您顯然非常公開地談論了廣告市場面臨的挑戰。我只是想知道，當你想到其他運動時，像 NBA 這樣的事情就會出現。顯然，已經有像 WWE 這樣的現場娛樂節目了。我只是很好奇，當您考慮未來的體育許可成本時，您是否認為它們必須僅靠廣告收入來充分證明是合理的？或者你如何看待未來如何購買體育版權或許可體育版權？這真的很有幫助。

Yes. Sure, Rich. So a couple of points. One, as you know, sports is integral to our strategy, but it's not a stand-alone business. It's a slice of the wheel, so to speak, both for our CBS network and for streaming. Second, as you point out, the NFL in that is clearly a Juggernaut and I can give you chapter and verse on how it's driving our business, but you already know that, so I'll skip that. But it's not the only sport that matters.

是的。當然，里奇。所以有幾點。第一，如您所知，體育是我們策略的一部分，但它不是一項獨立的業務。可以說，對於我們的哥倫比亞廣播公司網路和串流媒體來說，它都是一個輪子。其次，正如您所指出的，NFL 顯然是一個巨頭，我可以給您詳細介紹它如何推動我們的業務，但您已經知道這一點，所以我將跳過這一點。但這並不是唯一重要的運動。

One of the great things about Paramount is our collection of sports is truly a caliber. And so if you look at other elements, it's college football, like now the Big 10, which is going to be the best college football league in the U.S., the NCAA and golf, like the Masters, I mean, the fact of the matter is -- and I know this because Ray Hopkins, who runs distribution regularly brings clients to them. Those events matter from a distribution standpoint to [AKA] Retrans and reverse comp. It's not strictly the NFL. And clearly, to your point, they're also valuable in the ad business.

派拉蒙的一大優點是我們的運動系列確實具有水準。所以如果你看看其他元素，那就是大學橄欖球，就像現在的 Big 10，這將是美國最好的大學橄欖球聯賽，NCAA 和高爾夫，例如大師賽，我的意思是，事實是這樣的— —我知道這一點是因為負責分銷的雷·霍普金斯（Ray Hopkins）定期為他們帶來客戶。從分發的角度來看，這些事件對於 [AKA] Retrans 和反向比較很重要。這並不是嚴格意義上的 NFL。顯然，就您而言，它們在廣告業務中也很有價值。

The third point I'd make is, for us, remember, sports is a piece of the wheel. And we're actually in excellent place where we don't really -- we don't need nor are we active in looking at any more sports. Instead, what we're focused on is kind of the conjoint use piece, getting people who come in for sports to consume other products, be that on linear or on streaming. And because, again, we're in a great place. We have the volume of a caliber sports that we need, and we've got stability too. Our deals are locked in the U.S. the vast majority of them and the ones that matter through 2030 and beyond. So with respect to these other sort of auctions in the marketplace, we'll watch them. But again, we're in a very fortunate place that we got what we need and they're working really great for us.

我要說的第三點是，對我們來說，請記住，運動是車輪的一部分。我們實際上處於一個非常好的位置，我們實際上不需要也沒有積極關注任何更多的體育運動。相反，我們關注的是聯合使用部分，讓參與運動的人們消費其他產品，無論是線性產品還是串流產品。因為我們再次處於一個很棒的位置。我們擁有我們需要的高水平運動的容量，而且我們也有穩定性。我們的交易大部分都鎖定在美國，而且這些交易對 2030 年及以後都很重要。因此，對於市場上的其他類型的拍賣，我們將予以關注。但同樣，我們處於一個非常幸運的地方，我們得到了我們需要的東西，而且他們為我們工作得非常好。

Our next question goes to Brett Feldman of Goldman Sachs.

我們的下一個問題是向高盛的布雷特·費爾德曼提出的。

Great. Naveen, when you were answering Jessica's question, you made that point at the end about how a lot of that engagement growth was on the premium ad-free tier. So the follow-up question would be maybe give us your updated thoughts on the merits of launching a premium ad-supported tier in the U.S. And then just a housekeeping question. You identified 2 pay-per-view events in the quarter that helped out. I was hoping maybe you could just carve out what that revenue contribution was.

偉大的。納文（Naveen），當您回答傑西卡（Jessica）的問題時，您在最後指出了參與度增長的很大一部分來自於優質無廣告層。因此，後續問題可能是向我們提供您對在美國推出高級廣告支援層的優點的最新想法，然後只是一個內務問題。您確定了本季有 2 個按次付費活動發揮了作用。我希望你能算出收入貢獻是多少。

Yes. So maybe in reverse order, Brett, in terms of the impact of the pay-per-view events in the quarter. I think if you were to adjust for those, what you'd see is the linear affiliate revenue trend would look pretty similar to sort of the trends you've seen in the last couple of quarters where you've got some ecosystem decline being partially offset by rate increases. So really no change to the trend there.

是的。布雷特，就本季按次付費事件的影響而言，也許是相反的順序。我認為，如果您要針對這些進行調整，您會看到線性聯盟行銷收入趨勢看起來與您在過去幾個季度中看到的趨勢非常相似，其中生態系統部分下降被升息所抵消。所以那裡的趨勢確實沒有改變。

With respect to a premium ad-supported tier, that's really not something that has been a major priority for us. We like the configuration that we have right now as between an ad-supported tier at 6Box and then Paramount+ with Showtime at $12. I think, if anything, one of the places where you are seeing some traction in the market is even higher-priced tiers, which we're going to continue to assess because those could be quite incremental from an ARPU perspective. So -- but we're really not focused on a more expensive ad-supported tier.

就高級廣告支援層而言，這其實並不是我們的首要任務。我們喜歡現在的配置，即 6Box 的廣告支援層和 12 美元的 Showtime 的 Paramount+ 層。我認為，如果有的話，你在市場上看到一些吸引力的地方之一就是價格更高的層級，我們將繼續對其進行評估，因為從ARPU 的角度來看，這些層級可能是相當增量的。所以——但我們實際上並不關注更昂貴的廣告支援層。

Yes. And Brett, it's Bob. Just for the avoidance of doubt. I mean, when we launch Paramount+, we were a bit of an outlier. And we launched it with an ad-supported version and a premium version. And other people have since followed us. So -- and we're super happy with how the ad-supported version, we call it Essentials works. But there's not really an incremental thing to do there because we basically have the product lineup in the space.

是的。布雷特，是鮑伯。只是為了避免疑慮。我的意思是，當我們推出派拉蒙+時，我們有點異類。我們推出了有廣告支援的版本和進階版本。此後其他人也追隨了我們。因此，我們對廣告支援版本的工作方式非常滿意，我們稱之為 Essentials。但實際上並沒有什麼增量的事情要做，因為我們基本上已經在這個領域擁有了產品陣容。

Our next question goes to Phil Cusick of JPMorgan.

我們的下一個問題是向摩根大通的菲爾·庫斯克提出的。

A couple of follow-ups. Nice move on the DTC ARPU growth and cost. Can you think about the further impact of pricing from here, both in the U.S. and international. How should we think that carry through in the fourth quarter, which you talked about a little bit. And then with this lower level of DTC drag, how do you think about the path to DTC EBITDA breakeven over time? And then just finally, Naveen, you had talked in the past about an improvement in free cash flow in '24 outpacing the improvement in EBITDA. I wonder if that's still the case or if the strikes are sort of going to move those things around.

一些後續行動。 DTC ARPU 成長和成本方面取得了不錯的進展。您能否考慮一下定價對美國和國際的進一步影響。我們應該如何看待第四季度的進展，你談到了這一點。然後，隨著 DTC 阻力的降低，您如何看待 DTC EBITDA 隨著時間的推移實現損益平衡的路徑？最後，納文，您過去曾談到 24 年自由現金流的改善超過了 EBITDA 的改善。我想知道情況是否仍然如此，或者罷工是否會改變這些事情。

Yes. Thanks, Phil. There's several questions in there. I'll try to tackle those. So first of all, in terms of the ARPU trajectory, we do expect that to continue to benefit Q4, as you heard in my comments. That really just has to do with the timing of when various subs convert to new pricing. Moreover, we see a very compelling pricing opportunity longer term, which is to say this won't be the last price increase that we do. We think there is a continued opportunity for pricing to play a role in growing both revenue and earnings in our streaming business.

是的。謝謝，菲爾。裡面有幾個問題。我會盡力解決這些問題。首先，就 ARPU 軌跡而言，我們確實預計這將繼續有利於第四季度，正如您在我的評論中聽到的那樣。這確實與各種訂閱者轉換為新定價的時間有關。此外，從長遠來看，我們看到了非常引人注目的定價機會，也就是說，這不會是我們最後一次漲價。我們認為定價有持續的機會在我們串流媒體業務的收入和收益成長中發揮作用。

I'd note a few things related to that. One, relative to competitors, paramount+ is still positioned at a very compelling price point, and that's true both on our ad-supported tier and our ad-free tiers. Also, the price increase that we did in June has actually performed better than we expected. And what I mean by that is that the impact to churn and starts has not been as large as we forecast such that on a net basis. The price increase is actually more accretive to earnings than we originally anticipated. So that gives us some confidence.

我會注意到一些與此相關的事情。第一，相對於競爭對手，派拉蒙+仍然處於非常有吸引力的價格點，無論是在我們的廣告支援層還是無廣告層都是如此。另外，我們6月份的漲價實際上比我們預期的要好。我的意思是，以淨值計算，對客戶流失和開工的影響並不像我們預測的那麼大。價格上漲實際上比我們最初預期的更能增加收益。這給了我們一些信心。

And Paramount+ is all about cornerstone, high-value content. I mean, historically, consumers have paid significantly more than $6 or $12 a month to watch live NFL games, live Big Ten football, big Hollywood movies, not to mention this incredible universe of very high-quality entertainment franchises, both for kids and adults. So there's no question that, that continues to be a very strong value proposition and the data we've seen coming out of our first price increase suggests that, that value proposition and the stickiness of the content does give us additional room for growing price over time.

Paramount+ 的核心是高價值的基石內容。我的意思是，從歷史上看，消費者每月支付的費用遠遠超過6 或12 美元，用於觀看直播NFL 比賽、直播十大橄欖球賽、好萊塢大片，更不用說這個令人難以置信的高品質娛樂特許經營宇宙，無論是兒童或成人。因此，毫無疑問，這仍然是一個非常強大的價值主張，我們從第一次提價中看到的數據表明，這種價值主張和內容的黏性確實為我們提供了額外的價格上漲空間。時間。

In terms of the -- your question on the path to streaming profitability, I just very briefly reiterate some of the things I mentioned earlier. We do anticipate significant improvement in the DTC P&L next year. There's both top line as well as cost elements to that, subs, ARPU, engagement, churn reduction, content efficiency, et cetera. So I think you're familiar with the drivers there, and that is something that we expect to be material in 2024.

關於您關於串流媒體盈利之路的問題，我只是非常簡短地重申我之前提到的一些事情。我們確實預計明年 DTC 損益表將出現顯著改善。其中既有營收因素，也有成本因素，例如用戶數、ARPU、參與度、減少流失率、內容效率等。所以我認為您熟悉那裡的驅動因素，我們預計這將在 2024 年變得重要。

And then I think the last part of your question related to free cash flow trends relative to EBITDA. And I think the short answer, as you sort of hinted at in the short term, that trend is, I'll say, a little bit noisy just because of the impact of the strike. But longer term, we expect to see healthy free cash flow growth. I mentioned that in -- when we look at this on a 2-year basis, we feel very good about free cash flow being higher than we had previously expected. And that's really a function of the fact that we're going to deliver consolidated OIBDA growth next year. That obviously contributes to free cash flow. And importantly, only a portion of the cash benefit that we are capturing in 2023 from the strike is going to be spent back in 2024. So that's also helpful from a free cash flow perspective.

然後我認為你問題的最後一部分與相對於 EBITDA 的自由現金流趨勢有關。我認為，正如您在短期內暗示的那樣，簡短的答案是，我會說，由於罷工的影響，這種趨勢有點吵鬧。但從長遠來看，我們預計自由現金流將實現健康成長。我提到過，當我們以兩年為基礎來看這一點時，我們對自由現金流高於我們先前的預期感到非常滿意。這實際上是因為我們明年將實現綜合 OIBDA 成長。這顯然有助於自由現金流。重要的是，我們在 2023 年從罷工中獲得的現金收益中只有一部分會在 2024 年花掉。因此，從自由現金流的角度來看，這也很有幫助。

The next question goes to John Hodulik of UBS.

下一個問題將由瑞銀集團 (UBS) 的約翰‧霍杜里克 (John Hodulik) 提出。

Great. Maybe a quick follow-up and then another question. First on the cost side, you are making a lot of progress, obviously, on both media and in DTC. On the DTC side, is the full $700 million in synergies that you guys laid out from the combination of Showtime and Paramount+ already in the numbers at this point. And then, Bob, in your prepared remarks, you guys seem to talk a little bit about sort of leaning more into licensing. Just maybe update us on your view on further licensing and maybe how that should progress, especially coming out of the strike, just given the sort of softness in the market today.

偉大的。也許是快速跟進，然後是另一個問題。首先在成本方面，顯然，您在媒體和 DTC 方面都取得了很大進展。在 DTC 方面，你們透過 Showtime 和 Paramount+ 的組合所產生的 7 億美元的協同效應目前已經在數字中了。然後，鮑勃，在您準備好的發言中，你們似乎談到了更多地傾向於許可。也許只是向我們介紹您對進一步許可的看法，以及應該如何進展，特別是考慮到當今市場的疲軟，尤其是在罷工之後。

Yes. Well, maybe we'll do them in the reverse order, John. So really 2 related points. In my remarks, I more characterize it as leaning more into partners in streaming at Paramount+. And obviously, we are scaling rapidly. You saw that in our numbers. We have today a run rate business of over $6.5 billion in DTC. And we are advancing quickly on the path to profitability. We are ahead of plan. Losses narrowed 30% in the quarter. That's really through focused execution. Obviously, peak losses now, we think were in '22, not '23. So we feel great about that. But we continue to look at streaming expansion. And in that regard, we think there is an opportunity to lean more into licensing. We talked about that in -- again, in my remarks, but that's really about going after incremental markets, focusing our contribution on, call it Hollywood content, content that we're already creating for Paramount+ in our O&O markets and doing deals with partners where they take that content, ingest it on their platforms. So that is really the principal extent of our participation.

是的。好吧，也許我們會以相反的順序來做，約翰。所以確實有兩點相關。在我的評論中，我更傾向於將其描述為派拉蒙+在串流媒體方面更加傾向於合作夥伴。顯然，我們正在迅速擴展。你在我們的數據中看到了這一點。如今，我們的 DTC 業務運作率超過 65 億美元。我們正在盈利之路上快速前進。我們比計劃提早了。本季虧損收窄 30%。這確實是透過集中執行來實現的。顯然，我們認為現在的損失高峰是在 22 年，而不是 23 年。所以我們對此感覺很好。但我們繼續關注串流媒體擴張。在這方面，我們認為有機會更傾向於許可。我們在我的演講中再次談到了這一點，但這實際上是為了追求增量市場，將我們的貢獻集中在好萊塢內容上，即我們已經在O&O 市場中為派拉蒙+ 創建的內容，以及與合作夥伴進行的交易他們在哪裡獲取這些內容，將其攝取到他們的平台上。所以這確實是我們參與的主要範圍。

We also provide them value through the Paramount+ brand. They set up a branded area, and then they do the local content, local marketing, local infrastructure, local organization. And we think leaning in incrementally to partners in that way really is quite compelling from an expansion standpoint. And I was at MIPCOM -- transitioning to your, the second part of licensing -- at MIPCOM a couple of weeks ago, and there is clear demand for that and recognition on the value of that content and the interest in having Paramount+ as an international global supplier in that regard.

我們也透過派拉蒙+品牌為他們提供價值。他們建立了一個品牌區域，然後進行本地內容、本地行銷、本地基礎設施、本地組織。我們認為，從擴張的角度來看，以這種方式逐步向合作夥伴傾斜確實非常引人注目。幾週前，我在MIPCOM 工作——過渡到許可的第二部分——在MIPCOM，對此有明確的需求，並且對該內容的價值有所認可，並且有興趣讓派拉蒙+成為一家國際公司。在這方面的全球供應商。

Related to licensing in general, we continue to feel good about that market for -- particularly for high-quality content, feature film, signature series, kids franchises really our wheelhouse. Again, at MIPCOM, our stand was very busy a couple of weeks ago, and we do see content licensing revenue continuing to grow both in the U.S. and internationally, and it does continue to be an important component of our model. Naveen?

與一般授權相關，我們繼續對該市場感到滿意，特別是對於高品質內容、長片、簽名系列、兒童特許經營權而言，這確實是我們的優勢。同樣，在 MIPCOM，幾週前我們的展位非常繁忙，我們確實看到美國和國際上的內容授權收入持續增長，而且它確實仍然是我們模式的重要組成部分。納文？

Yes. Just briefly on your question regarding the $700 million synergies related to the Showtime, P+ integration. Short answer, we're not done capturing the benefits of that. Those synergies are important ingredient in the earnings improvement that we expect to deliver next year in the DTC segment. And in fact, as I think I've said recently, I believe we will exceed the $700 million in future expense savings.

是的。請簡單回答一下您關於與 Showtime、P+ 整合相關的 7 億美元協同效應的問題。簡而言之，我們還沒有完全了解它的好處。這些綜效是我們預期明年 DTC 領域獲利改善的重要因素。事實上，正如我最近所說，我相信我們未來的開支節省將超過 7 億美元。

The final question goes to Bryan Kraft of Deutsche Bank.

最後一個問題交給德意志銀行的布萊恩‧克拉夫特。

I wanted to ask a little bit about the Paramount+ subscriber outlook. How are you thinking about the pace of Paramount+ subscriber growth in 4Q and next year given the content pipeline as well as the international ad-supported launches. And are you starting to plan or to think about your own account sharing crack down along the lines of what Netflix has done and Disney starting to do? And if so, any thoughts on timing or scope of that effort?

我想問一些有關派拉蒙+訂閱者前景的問題。考慮到內容管道以及國際廣告支援的發布，您如何看待第四季度和明年派拉蒙+訂戶成長的速度。您是否開始計劃或考慮效仿 Netflix 和迪士尼開始採取的行動來打擊您自己的帳戶共享？如果是這樣，對這項工作的時間或範圍有什麼想法嗎？

So start, Bryan, with -- we're feeling great about Paramount+ in general. As you can see in the quarter, again, real momentum. We continue to grow. The Paramount+ with Showtime integration is clearly working for us. We see value from that Showtime content being added to Paramount+ and we see usage kind of in both directions, Showtime users using Paramount+ content and vice versa. So that's totally working.

布萊恩，首先，我們對派拉蒙+整體感覺很好。正如您在本季度所看到的那樣，真正的勢頭再次顯現。我們不斷成長。與 Showtime 整合的 Paramount+ 顯然對我們有效。我們看到 Showtime 內容被添加到 Paramount+ 的價值，並且我們看到雙向使用，Showtime 用戶使用 Paramount+ 內容，反之亦然。所以這完全有效。

And as we look forward, including into Q4, we definitely see continued growth of Paramount+, both at the Essentials and the premium level. So we're feeling great about growth. Again, as we look at it on a year-to-year basis, also churn continues to improve. And that's a good thing for our sub base. And as we look at the content slate, yes, there's a bit of uncertainty given the strength, but our fourth quarter content slate is very strong. We got another piece of the Yellowstone Universe coming very shortly in (inaudible). We got Frasier, obviously, NFL is working. We got the PAW Patrol movie coming and some other goodies. So we're good there. And as we look into '24, we're feeling very good about that as well. So again, overall, great on the Paramount+ growth trajectory. And importantly, we're accomplishing that while accelerating our path to profitability, which we also talked about today. Naveen?

展望未來，包括第四季度，我們肯定會看到派拉蒙+在基本版和高級版上的持續成長。所以我們對成長感覺很好。同樣，當我們逐年觀察時，客戶流失率也持續改善。這對我們的基地來說是件好事。當我們查看內容清單時，是的，考慮到強度存在一些不確定性，但我們第四季度的內容清單非常強大。我們很快就得到了黃石宇宙的另一部分（聽不清楚）。我們得到了弗雷澤，顯然，NFL 正在發揮作用。我們即將上映《狗狗巡邏隊》電影和其他一些好東西。所以我們在那裡很好。當我們展望 24 世紀時，我們對此也感覺非常好。總的來說，派拉蒙+的成長軌跡非常好。重要的是，我們正在實現這一目標，同時加速我們的獲利之路，我們今天也談到了這一點。納文？

Yes. Just on the second part of your question around password sharing. Right now, we don't see that as a major headwind to our growth efforts. Obviously, something that we will continue to monitor. And the good news is, I think there's a template for how we could address that in a value accretive way. But right now we've got really powerful growth drivers, as you heard Bob describe.

是的。關於密碼共享問題的第二部分。目前，我們並不認為這是我們成長努力的主要阻力。顯然，我們將繼續監控這一點。好消息是，我認為有一個模板可以幫助我們以增值的方式解決這個問題。但正如您聽到鮑勃所描述的那樣，現在我們擁有非常強大的成長動力。

Yes. And look, everyone, in closing, we're really proud of our progress in the quarter, particularly given the dynamic environment we're operating in. As you can see, we continue to execute on our strategy prioritizing prudent investment in streaming and continuing to maximize the earnings from our traditional business, know that we remain confident in our plan to achieve significant total company earnings growth in 2024, and we're laser-focused on delivering value for our shareholders. And with that, thank you for joining us. Be well, and we'll talk to you soon.

是的。大家看，最後，我們對本季的進展感到非常自豪，特別是考慮到我們所處的動態環境。正如您所看到的，我們將繼續執行我們的策略，優先考慮對串流媒體和持續進行審慎投資。為了最大限度地提高我們傳統業務的收益，我們對在2024 年實現公司總收益大幅增長的計劃仍然充滿信心，並且我們專注於為股東創造價值。在此，感謝您加入我們。祝你一切順利，我們很快就會和你談談。

Thank you. This now concludes today's call. Thank you all for joining. You may now disconnect your lines.

謝謝。今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝大家的加入。現在您可以斷開線路。