Paramount Global (PARA) 2023 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Good Afternoon. The Paramount Global's Q4 2023 Earnings Conference Call will begin in one minute's time to allow all participants to get connected.

午安.派拉蒙全球 2023 年第四季財報電話會議將在一分鐘後開始，以便所有參與者進行聯繫。

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 Q4 2023 Earnings Conference Call. (Operator Instructions) At this time, I would like to turn the call over to Jaime Morris, Paramount Global's EVP, Investor Relations. You may now begin your conference call.

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 年第四季財報電話會議。 （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 fourth quarter 2023 earnings call. Joining me for today's discussion are Bob Bakish, our President and CEO; and Naveen Chopra, our CFO. Please note that in addition to our earnings release, we have trending schedules containing supplemental information available on our website.

大家下午好。感謝您抽空參加我們的 2023 年第四季財報電話會議。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)。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 contains supplemental information, and in each case, can be found in the Investor Relations section of our website. Now I will turn the call over to Bob.

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包含補充資訊的趨勢表中找到，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。現在我將把電話轉給鮑伯。

Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining us. There's no question that 2023 was a dynamic and in many ways, challenging year in our industry. We saw two labor strikes, a tough macroeconomic environment and continued evolution in the media industry. But we stayed focused on disciplined execution aligned with our strategy, adapting as needed. In doing so, we positioned Paramount Global to deliver significant growth in total company earnings and growth in free cash flow in 2024.

大家下午好，感謝您加入我們。毫無疑問，2023 年對我們的產業來說是充滿活力且在許多方面充滿挑戰的一年。我們看到了兩次工人罷工、嚴峻的宏觀經濟環境以及媒體產業的持續發展。但我們仍然專注於與我們的策略一致的嚴格執行，並根據需要進行調整。在此過程中，我們預計派拉蒙全球將在 2024 年實現公司總收益和自由現金流的顯著成長。

On today's call, I'd like to spend a few minutes speaking to our '23 accomplishments. Then I'll provide more color on our '24 priorities before handing it over to Naveen for a deeper dive on the financials. With that, let's start with '23, a year where our content clearly continued to deliver, driving every platform. In fact, Paramount had the #1 show on all of television and the #1 broadcast network for the '22, '23 season, not to mention five #1 debuts at the domestic box office. And very importantly, we continued to scale streaming with Paramount+ and Pluto TV. Subscribers and MAUs grew nicely. In 2023, audiences spent nearly 40% more hours on our streaming platforms compared to 2022, which, when combined with our midyear Paramount+ domestic price increase, delivered 37% D2C revenue growth. The disciplined execution of our strategy, including the integration of SHOWTIME into Paramount+, led to a reduction in full year D2C losses and meant we had peak streaming losses in 2022, a year ahead of schedule, with further significant improvement expected in 2024.

在今天的電話會議上，我想花幾分鐘談談我們 23 年的成就。然後我將提供更多關於我們 24 年優先事項的信息，然後將其交給 Naveen 進行更深入的財務分析。那麼，讓我們從 23 年開始，這一年我們的內容顯然繼續交付，推動著每個平台的發展。事實上，派拉蒙在 22、23 季的所有電視節目和廣播網絡中均排名第一，更不用說五部首映影片在國內票房排名第一。非常重要的是，我們繼續透過 Paramount+ 和 Pluto TV 擴大串流媒體規模。訂戶數和每月活躍用戶數成長良好。與 2022 年相比，2023 年觀眾在我們的串流平台上花費的時間增加了近 40%，加上我們年中派拉蒙 + 國內價格的上漲，D2C 收入增長了 37%。我們嚴格執行策略，包括將 SHOWTIME 整合到派拉蒙+，導致全年 D2C 損失減少，這意味著我們提前一年在 2022 年實現了串流損失峰值，預計 2024 年將進一步顯著改善。

Disciplined execution has been a theme across the entire company to deliver both impact and efficiency. And that obviously extends to managing our cost base as we continue to streamline the organization. That brings me to the year ahead, where we're focused on returning the company to sustainable profitable growth in 2024 and beyond. And know that regardless of current market sentiment, we're convinced that the value of our assets today, combined with the execution of our strategy as we move forward, represents a significant value creation opportunity, and we are dedicated to unlocking that value.

嚴格執行一直是整個公司的一個主題，以實現影響力和效率。隨著我們繼續精簡組織，這顯然會延伸到管理我們的成本基礎。這讓我想到了未來的一年，我們的重點是讓公司在 2024 年及以後恢復可持續的獲利成長。要知道，無論當前的市場情緒如何，我們都相信，我們今天的資產價值，加上我們前進中策略的執行，代表著一個重要的價值創造機會，我們致力於釋放這一價值。

To do so, we will focus on 3 key priorities: First, we will continue to lean into content with the biggest impact. Second, we're laser-focused on driving the direct-to-consumer profitability. And third, we'll continue to unlock synergies across the company. Naveen and I will unpack these further.

為此，我們將重點放在三個關鍵優先事項：首先，我們將繼續專注於影響最大的內容。其次，我們專注於提高直接面向消費者的獲利能力。第三，我們將繼續釋放整個公司的綜效。納文和我將進一步解開這些內容。

Let's start at the core: Our content. As we say, popular is Paramount. We create hits that the whole household, country and whole world love to watch and that our partners need. That's the heart of our business. And in doing so, we've proven we can prioritize efficiency while still achieving viewership and revenue goals. As we've discussed in previous quarters, we continue to sharpen our ability to maximize our return on content investment, which informs how we approach our content, programming and windowing. As we move into 2024, we're focused on producing content more efficiently and magnifying the impact of our slate. And let me give you some examples to illustrate this.

讓我們從核心開始：我們的內容。正如我們所說，流行就是派拉蒙。我們創造全家、全國和全世界都喜歡觀看並且我們的合作夥伴需要的熱門影片。這是我們業務的核心。透過這樣做，我們已經證明我們可以優先考慮效率，同時仍然實現收視率和收入目標。正如我們在前幾季所討論的，我們繼續提高我們的能力，以最大化我們的內容投資回報，這告訴我們如何處理我們的內容、節目和視窗。進入 2024 年，我們將專注於更有效率地製作內容並擴大我們的影響力。讓我舉一些例子來說明這一點。

In the Film segment, we're improving ROI by lowering the average cost per title. This by balancing high-budget tentpoles with more modest cost titles like Mean Girls and Bob Marley: One Love, improving the financial return on the overall slate, and we're off to an excellent start on this. In TV Media, at CBS, we have an increasingly efficient and targeted development process. We've prioritized lower-cost formats like unscripted and those shot abroad, while maintaining our strength in franchises.

在電影領域，我們透過降低每部電影的平均成本來提高投資報酬率。透過平衡高預算的主力作品與成本較低的作品（例如《賤女孩》和《鮑伯馬利：一個愛》），提高整體的財務回報，我們在這方面有了一個很好的開始。在電視媒體領域，在哥倫比亞廣播公司，我們擁有越來越有效率和有針對性的開發流程。我們優先考慮低成本格式，例如無劇本和在國外拍攝的格式，同時保持我們在特許經營方面的優勢。

NCIS, one of the world's most watched shows and one that has been licensed in over 200 markets worldwide is a great example of this. The latest iteration, NCIS Sydney was produced in Australia at a much more efficient price point and was the most watched new show this season on any network in the U.S. until February's debut of Tracker, also on CBS. And we are excited to announce today that the NCIS franchise will expand further with the first original for Paramount+ U.S. expected later this year.

《海軍罪案調查處》是世界上收視率最高的節目之一，已在全球 200 多個市場獲得授權，這就是一個很好的例子。最新版本的《海軍罪案調查處雪梨》在澳洲以更有效率的價格製作，是本季美國所有電視網收視率最高的新劇，直到2 月同樣在哥倫比亞廣播公司(CBS) 推出的《追蹤者》(Tracker) 為止。今天我們很高興地宣布，《海軍罪案調查處》系列將進一步擴大，預計將於今年稍晚在美國派拉蒙+推出第一部原創作品。

By the way, you will see us leaning even further into offshore production for our global franchises, including the upcoming London installment of Billions, the new Ray Donovan origin story with The Donovans as well as new series like The Department from George Clooney. This benefits both TV Media and D2C.

順便說一句，您會看到我們進一步傾向於我們的全球特許經營權的離岸製作，包括即將在倫敦上映的《億萬》、雷·多諾萬與多諾萬家族的新起源故事以及喬治·克隆尼的《部門》等新劇集。這對電視媒體和 D2C 都有好處。

Finally, we're focused on magnifying the impact of our content, including through our combination of best-in-class sports and entertainment here in the U.S. Look no further than Super Bowl LVIII, a blockbuster event, one that capped off a record-breaking NFL season. The game broke almost every record imaginable. Most watched telecast in television history, most streamed Super Bowl ever, the first alternate telecast with Nickelodeon and a new high watermark for gross ad sales. The Super Bowl is the clear benchmark of the power of sports. But for us, it is more than that because we know that Paramount+ subscribers who come into the service for live sports will ultimately spend nearly 90% of their viewing hours on nonsports content. Think about that as a 9x sports multiplier. That's the power of an integrated sports and entertainment strategy, which is why we use the Super Bowl, one of the world's biggest stages to showcase a whole range of our content with highly engaged fans, including launching the new CBS schedule and promoting our upcoming film slate. The results speak for themselves. With Bob Marley: One Love recently crossing an incredible $120 million worldwide after only 12 days at the box office, and viewership for the CBS slate got off to a turbocharged start with audiences jumping 32% over last year on the network and 83% on streaming. Magnifying content extends well beyond the Super Bowl and leverages our entire ecosystem, like how we use CBS to drive new audiences to Yellowstone, where we brought 1883, a Paramount+ original to new audiences on linear cable as a second window, among other things, making 1883 the most watched new series on cable last year. And looking ahead, we're excited to add the first season of Tulsa King to the CBS slate ahead of its Season 2 premiere on Paramount+ in the third quarter. So that's where we are and where we're going with our content.

最後，我們致力於擴大我們內容的影響力，包括透過將美國一流的體育和娛樂相結合。看看第 58 屆超級碗，一場轟動一時的賽事，創下了一項紀錄——打破 NFL 賽季。這場比賽幾乎打破了所有可以想像的記錄。電視史上收視率最高的電視節目、有史以來觀看次數最多的超級盃、首次與尼克國際兒童頻道 (Nickelodeon) 進行交替電視節目以及廣告總銷售額新高水位。超級盃是體育力量的明確標竿。但對我們來說，意義遠不止於此，因為我們知道，使用該服務觀看體育直播的 Paramount+ 訂閱者最終將把近 90% 的觀看時間花在非體育內容上。將其視為 9 倍的運動乘數。這就是綜合體育和娛樂策略的力量，這就是為什麼我們利用超級碗這個世界上最大的舞台之一向高度參與的粉絲展示我們的一系列內容，包括推出新的 CBS 時間表和宣傳我們即將上映的電影石板。結果不言而喻。 《鮑伯馬利：一場愛情》上映僅12 天，全球票房收入就突破了令人難以置信的1.2 億美元，哥倫比亞廣播公司(CBS) 的收視率也開始猛增，網絡觀眾比去年增長了32%，串流媒體觀眾比去年增長了83% 。放大內容遠遠超出了超級盃的範圍，並利用了我們的整個生態系統，例如我們如何利用哥倫比亞廣播公司（CBS）吸引新觀眾來到黃石公園，我們在黃石公園為新觀眾帶來了派拉蒙+原創作品《1883》，透過線性有線電視作為第二個窗口等， 1883 年是去年收視率最高的有線電視新劇。展望未來，我們很高興能夠將《塔爾薩之王》第一季添加到 CBS 的節目單中，然後第三季將在 Paramount+ 上首播第二季。這就是我們的現況和內容的發展方向。

And that brings me to our second related priority, driving to D2C profitability. Here, we have already made meaningful progress. In 2020, our D2C revenue was $1.8 billion. In 2023, that number is $6.7 billion. Scaled revenue matters. And as I've said, we passed peak streaming losses a year ahead of schedule. Perhaps more important, I'm pleased to say that we now expect Paramount+ to reach domestic profitability in 2025, a significant and exciting milestone in the company's transformation.

這讓我想到了我們的第二個相關優先事項，即推動 D2C 獲利能力。在這方面，我們已經取得了有意義的進展。 2020 年，我們的 D2C 收入為 18 億美元。到 2023 年，這個數字將達到 67 億美元。規模化收入很重要。正如我所說，我們提前一年超過了串流媒體損失高峰。也許更重要的是，我很高興地說，我們現在預計派拉蒙+將在 2025 年實現國內盈利，這是公司轉型中一個重要且令人興奮的里程碑。

While Naveen will get into more detail, I want to preview the two parts of the story: domestic and international. Domestically, increases in engagement, reduction in churn and continue to add monetization as well as the flow-through impact of last year's subscription price increase will continue to drive revenue growth, all of which will be done on a more efficient slate. Add to that the benefits of the SHOWTIME Paramount+ integration, all driving meaningful D2C earnings improvement as we continue to gain operating leverage in the model. Internationally, it's become unquestionably clear that Hollywood hits are the biggest draw for our audiences and partners around the world, which means there's a clear opportunity to lean into our CBS slate, Paramount+ originals and Paramount films, while slowing spend on local content and associated marketing, though the specific execution of this will vary by individual market as one size does not fit all.

雖然納文將詳細介紹，但我想預覽故事的兩個部分：國內和國際。在國內，參與度的提高、客戶流失的減少、貨幣化的持續增加以及去年訂閱價格上漲的流通影響將繼續推動收入成長，所有這些都將在更有效率的基礎上完成。再加上 SHOWTIME Paramount+ 整合的好處，隨著我們繼續在該模型中獲得營運槓桿，所有這些都將推動 D2C 盈利的顯著改善。在國際上，毫無疑問，好萊塢大片對我們世界各地的觀眾和合作夥伴來說是最大的吸引力，這意味著我們有明顯的機會來利用我們的CBS 片單、派拉蒙+原創電影和派拉蒙電影，同時放慢在本地內容和相關行銷上的支出，儘管具體執行會因個別市場而異，因為一種方法並不適合所有情況。

Of course, we also recognize that sustainable growth requires the continued transformation of our cost base, which leads me to our third priority, unlocking synergies across Paramount. There is a lot of collective power behind Paramount Global, and we're unlocking that by aligning our assets to increase impact and drive greater efficiencies. On the efficiencies front, we'll continue streamlining the business to transform our cost base, which Naveen will discuss in more detail shortly. At the same time, we're excited about the potential to unlock more impact from this company across content, marketing, partnerships and more. And speaking of partnerships, advertising is a great example of where we're working to capture the power of one Paramount. Yes, the ad market was challenging in '23 and still isn't exactly where we want it to be, but we're encouraged by some signs of stabilization, including healthy scatter premiums.

當然，我們也意識到，永續成長需要不斷轉變我們的成本基礎，這讓我想到了我們的第三個優先事項，即釋放派拉蒙內部的協同效應。派拉蒙全球背後蘊藏著巨大的集體力量，我們正在透過調整我們的資產來釋放這項力量，以增加影響力並提高效率。在效率方面，我們將繼續精簡業務以轉變我們的成本基礎，納文很快就會對此進行更詳細的討論。同時，我們對這家公司在內容、行銷、合作夥伴關係等方面發揮更大影響力的潛力感到興奮。說到合作關係，廣告是我們努力捕捉派拉蒙的力量的一個很好的例子。是的，廣告市場在 23 年充滿挑戰，而且仍然沒有達到我們想要的目標，但一些穩定的跡象（包括健康的分散溢價）令我們感到鼓舞。

At the market level, many people are talking about increased supply and competition in the digital ad space. But what's not being discussed enough is the opportunity to grow the demand side of the equation, which is a big focus of ours. In addition to our focus on tapping into small and medium business budgets, something that historically was not accessible at the national TV level, we're now excited about being able to go toe-to-toe in bringing retail media to connected TV, where we can incorporate purchase data from large-scale retailers to target and measure the impact of media investment on business outcomes. This is fundamentally reshaping the marketing landscape, drawing budgets to connected TV previously reserved for other formats like those associated with consumer and trade promotion as well as social media. Because CTV is not just the top of the funnel awareness generator like its linear predecessor, it is also a one-to-one vehicle that can deliver the full funnel to the living room, expanding the use case and addressable market for Paramount advertising. We're testing these capabilities with Paramount+ and Pluto. In fact, we're now partnering with Walmart Connect to bring the power of their data to streaming. And the early results show this combination significantly enhances ad effectiveness. We're excited about the potential of the opportunity, and more importantly, clients are too.

在市場層面，許多人都在談論數位廣告領域供應和競爭的增加。但尚未充分討論的是擴大需求方面的機會，這是我們的一大重點。除了我們專注於利用中小型企業預算（這在歷史上在國家電視層面上是無法實現的）之外，我們現在很高興能夠將零售媒體引入聯網電視，其中我們可以整合大型零售商的購買數據來確定和衡量媒體投資對業務成果的影響。這從根本上重塑了行銷格局，將預算吸引到以前為其他格式（例如與消費者和貿易促銷以及社交媒體相關的格式）保留的聯網電視上。因為 CTV 不僅像其線性前身一樣是漏斗認知產生器的頂部，而且還是一種一對一的工具，可以將整個漏斗傳遞到客廳，從而擴展了派拉蒙廣告的用例和潛在市場。我們正在使用 Paramount+ 和 Pluto 測試這些功能。事實上，我們現在正在與 Walmart Connect 合作，將他們的數據的力量帶入串流媒體。早期結果表明，這種組合顯著提高了廣告效果。我們對這個機會的潛力感到興奮，更重要的是，客戶也是如此。

And stepping back, I'd note that we love our multifaceted partnership with Walmart, a partnership that continues to evolve and grow, including by adding Paramount+ subscribers and improving viewer engagement through our Walmart+ relationship.

退一步說，我要指出的是，我們喜歡與沃爾瑪的多方面合作夥伴關係，這種夥伴關係不斷發展和壯大，包括透過我們的沃爾瑪+關係增加派拉蒙+訂閱者和提高觀眾參與度。

In closing, these three priorities: maximizing our content, driving the D2C profitability and unlocking Paramount synergies give us a clear road map. They balance revenue growth and cost management, all while demonstrating the power and efficiency of our content engine. And speaking of that content engine, I can't help but highlight the incredible momentum we have as we kick off 2024. That includes the Golden Globes up over 50%, the Grammys with their largest audience since 2020, a Super Bowl that was record breaking on every level. The hugely successful debut of the new CBS slate, where a multi-platform viewership across broadcast and streaming soared double digits. The return of Jon Stewart and The Daily Show, which is driving ratings, revenue, streams and the cultural conversation. And our two for two start at the domestic box office with both Mean Girls and Bob Marley, opening #1, significantly exceeding box office expectations and both soon to be hits on Paramount+. All of that in just the last 8 weeks. With that, I'll hand it over to Naveen. Thank you.

最後，這三個優先事項：最大化我們的內容、提高 D2C 獲利能力以及釋放派拉蒙協同效應，為我們提供了清晰的路線圖。他們平衡了收入成長和成本管理，同時展示了我們內容引擎的力量和效率。說到內容引擎，我忍不住要強調我們在2024 年拉開序幕時所擁有的令人難以置信的勢頭。其中包括金球獎上漲超過50%、格萊美獎擁有自2020 年以來最多的觀眾人數、創紀錄的超級盃獎在各個層面上都取得突破。哥倫比亞廣播公司 (CBS) 新節目首次亮相就取得了巨大成功，廣播和串流媒體的多平台收視率飆升了兩位數。喬恩·史都華和《每日秀》的回歸，推動了收視率、收入、流量和文化對話。我們的《二對二》在國內票房上以《賤女孩》和《鮑勃·馬利》開局，首映票房排名第一，大大超出了票房預期，並且很快都將在派拉蒙+上大受歡迎。所有這一切都發生在過去 8 週內。這樣，我就把它交給納文了。謝謝。

Thank you, Bob. Good afternoon, everyone. As Bob mentioned, our full year 2023 results reflect a year of continued execution. In my comments today, I'll provide insights on key elements of our Q4 results. Additionally, I'll discuss how we're making notable progress in scaling our D2C business which will result in significant earnings growth for the company in 2024 and drive Paramount+ to reach domestic profitability in 2025.

謝謝你，鮑伯。大家下午好。正如 Bob 所提到的，我們 2023 年全年業績反映了我們持續執行的一年。在今天的評論中，我將提供有關第四季度業績關鍵要素的見解。此外，我還將討論我們如何在擴大 D2C 業務方面取得顯著進展，這將使公司在 2024 年實現顯著的盈利增長，並推動 Paramount+ 在 2025 年實現國內盈利。

Let's begin with our Q4 results. Paramount delivered total company revenue of $7.6 billion and adjusted OIBDA of $520 million. Despite navigating a variety of challenges posed by the strikes, we were able to deliver strong performance in our direct-to-consumer business and stable operating margins in TV Media. As always, you'll find a comprehensive review of our financial results in our press release, but let me walk you through a few areas of note.

讓我們從第四季的業績開始。派拉蒙總營收為 76 億美元，調整後的 OIBDA 為 5.2 億美元。儘管克服了罷工帶來的各種挑戰，我們仍然能夠在直接面向消費者的業務中取得強勁的業績，並在電視媒體領域實現穩定的營業利潤率。像往常一樣，您將在我們的新聞稿中找到對我們財務表現的全面回顧，但讓我向您介紹一些值得注意的領域。

Starting with advertising. In Q4, direct-to-consumer advertising delivered strong growth of 14%, benefiting from a 27% increase in total viewing hours across Paramount+ and Pluto TV. This viewership is monetized through our EyeQ platform, already one of the largest premium digital video advertising platforms in the United States and its value continues to grow as engagement expands and as we evolve our digital advertising capabilities to attract new sources of demand.

從廣告開始。第四季度，直接面向消費者的廣告實現了 14% 的強勁成長，受益於 Paramount+ 和 Pluto TV 的總觀看時間增加了 27%。這種收視率透過我們的EyeQ 平台貨幣化，該平台已經是美國最大的優質數位影片廣告平台之一，隨著參與度的擴大以及我們不斷發展數位廣告能力以吸引新的需求來源，其價值不斷增長。

In linear advertising, we saw strong demand in sports due to a record NFL season and incremental Big Ten inventory. Other components of linear advertising were negatively impacted by the strikes, a decline in political spend and unfavorable FX. On a total company basis, advertising declined 11% in the quarter, including a 400 basis point headwind from the decline in political advertising. Looking forward, as Bob mentioned, we're seeing some signs of stabilization in the ad market, including healthy scatter premiums. And based on what we've seen to date, we expect to report low to mid-teens advertising growth in Q1, including the benefit of the Super Bowl.

在線性廣告中，由於創紀錄的 NFL 賽季和增量的十大庫存，我們看到了體育運動的強勁需求。線性廣告的其他組成部分受到罷工、政治支出下降和不利外匯的負面影響。就整個公司而言，本季廣告下降了 11%，其中政治廣告下降帶來了 400 個基點的阻力。展望未來，正如鮑伯所提到的，我們看到廣告市場出現了一些穩定的跡象，包括健康的分散溢價。根據我們迄今為止所看到的情況，我們預計第一季的廣告成長將達到中低水平，其中包括超級盃的好處。

Next, let me turn to affiliate and subscription revenue, which grew 13% in Q4. As I've often noted, growth in total affiliate and subscription revenue illustrates that our multiplatform strategy, combining traditional and streaming yields net growth for our business. In TV Media, affiliate revenue declined 1%, reflecting a continuation of the trends we saw in the first three quarters of 2023. D2C subscription revenue, on the other hand, grew 43% in the quarter. And that's in large part due to the impressive momentum at Paramount+, where subscription revenue increased nearly 80%, thanks to subscriber growth and global ARPU expansion. Paramount+ continues to reach new audiences, adding 4.1 million subscribers in Q4 for a cumulative total of 67.5 million subscribers globally.

接下來，讓我談談聯盟和訂閱收入，第四季成長了 13%。正如我經常指出的那樣，聯盟行銷和訂閱總收入的成長表明，我們的多平台策略將傳統和串流媒體相結合，為我們的業務帶來了淨成長。在電視媒體領域，聯盟行銷收入下降了 1%，反映出我們在 2023 年前三個季度看到的趨勢的延續。另一方面，D2C 訂閱收入在本季度增長了 43%。這在很大程度上要歸功於派拉蒙+令人印象深刻的發展勢頭，由於訂閱者成長和全球 ARPU 擴張，訂閱收入成長了近 80%。 Paramount+ 繼續吸引新的觀眾，第四季增加了 410 萬訂閱者，全球訂閱者總數達到 6,750 萬。

Additionally, ARPU for the quarter grew 31% over the prior year, reflecting a full quarter of our domestic price increase and the addition of international subscribers in higher ARPU markets. Q4 also benefited from strong performance of our Paramount+ with SHOWTIME tier. The expanded content offering on our premium tier led to an increase in hours of engagement per subscriber. Monthly churn for these subscribers also improved both quarter-over-quarter and year-over-year, and we're seeing higher than expected cost synergies from the combination. In fact, Q4 marked the third consecutive quarter of year-over-year improvement in D2C OIBDA. And on a full year basis, we grew Paramount+ revenue over 60% in 2023 while content, marketing and other expenses grew at a significantly lower rate. Said differently, as we approach the third anniversary of the domestic launch of Paramount+, we're capturing operating leverage in streaming faster than expected, and we intend to build on that momentum.

此外，本季的 ARPU 較上年同期成長 31%，反映出我們整個季度的國內價格上漲以及 ARPU 較高市場中國際用戶的增加。第四季度也受惠於我們的 Paramount+ with SHOWTIME 層的強勁表現。我們的高級內容提供的擴展導致每個訂戶的參與時間增加。這些訂戶的每月流失率也比上一季和去年同期都有所改善，而且我們看到合併帶來的成本綜效高於預期。事實上，第四季度標誌著 D2C OIBDA 連續第三個季度同比改善。從全年來看，我們的 Paramount+ 收入在 2023 年增長了 60% 以上，而內容、行銷和其他費用的成長速度則明顯較低。換句話說，隨著派拉蒙+在國內推出三週年的臨近，我們正在以比預期更快的速度獲得串流媒體的營運槓桿，並且我們打算在此基礎上再接再厲。

Paramount+'s value proposition is strong, cornerstone original and library content and top-tier movies and sports in an integrated package. This proposition allows us to continue to grow subscribers and drive revenue by deepening engagement, improving retention and increasing monetization. And we continue to believe that the key to deeper engagement and retention is savvy programming execution and a stable volume of original content. It's about smartly combining acquisition drivers like the NFL, blockbuster films and our slate of hit Paramount+ originals with lower-cost library and affinity programming. This strategy proved effective in 2023, where average monthly viewing hours per domestic sub grew 8% and helped us implement a price increase while also reducing average monthly churn by 70 basis points.

Paramount+ 的價值主張非常強大，將原創內容和圖書館內容以及頂級電影和體育內容整合在一起。這項主張使我們能夠透過加深參與度、提高保留率和增加貨幣化來繼續增加訂戶並增加收入。我們仍然相信，更深層的參與和保留的關鍵是精明的程式執行和穩定的原創內容量。它是將 NFL、大片和派拉蒙+原創熱門影片等收購驅動因素與低成本的圖書館和親和力節目巧妙地結合。這項策略在 2023 年被證明是有效的，每個國內訂閱者的平均每月觀看時長增長了 8%，幫助我們實現了價格上漲，同時也將平均每月流失率降低了 70 個基點。

Outside the United States, we are similarly honing our Paramount+ strategy by leaning into our global slate and identifying markets where we can slow investment in local streaming content and marketing. We've learned that Paramount+ subscribers outside the United States spend nearly 90% of their time with our global Hollywood hits, meaning we can keep them engaged while rightsizing our investment in content that does not travel around the world. In some cases, this change will result in slower international subscriber growth. But given what we now know about viewing behavior in certain international markets, we're confident the shift will be highly accretive to our D2C P&L.

在美國之外，我們同樣也在磨練我們的派拉蒙+策略，透過關注我們的全球陣容並確定我們可以放慢對本地串流媒體內容和行銷的投資的市場。我們了解到，美國以外的派拉蒙+訂戶將近 90% 的時間花在我們的全球好萊塢大片上，這意味著我們可以讓他們保持參與，同時調整我們對不全球傳播的內容的投資。在某些情況下，這種變化將導致國際用戶成長放緩。但鑑於我們現在對某些國際市場觀看行為的了解，我們相信這一轉變將大大增加我們的 D2C 損益。

Domestically and abroad, we are finding ways to enhance engagement, reduce the cost per hour of viewing and unlock greater marketing efficiency. By executing on these initiatives, we expect Paramount+ to deliver more than 20% global ARPU improvement in 2024, while programming expense will grow at a significantly lower rate. Ultimately, the ability to drive deeper engagement and ARPU growth, while slowing the rate of growth in content expense is the path to profitability in stream.

在國內外，我們正在尋找提高參與度、降低每小時觀看成本並提高行銷效率的方法。透過執行這些舉措，我們預計派拉蒙+將在 2024 年實現全球 ARPU 提高 20% 以上，而節目費用的成長速度將顯著降低。最終，能夠推動更深入的參與度和 ARPU 成長，同時減緩內容費用的成長速度，才是串流媒體獲利的途徑。

In addition to improving the profitability of streaming, we remain committed to optimizing the cost structure in other parts of our business. Programming for our TV Media segment is the single biggest line item in our expense base, so it deserves particular focus. As you've heard, 2023 presented an opportunity to experiment with alternative lower cost entertainment programming across our linear networks. The performance we saw gives us confidence we can continue to reduce costs going forward, while also delivering a consistent volume of high-quality content, and that's enabled by lower production costs, evolving format mix and optimizing and sharing content across linear and streaming.

除了提高串流媒體的獲利能力外，我們仍然致力於優化其他業務的成本結構。我們的電視媒體部門的節目製作是我們支出基礎中最大的單一項目，因此值得特別關注。正如您所聽說的，2023 年提供了一個在我們的線性網路上嘗試替代性低成本娛樂節目的機會。我們所看到的性能讓我們有信心能夠繼續降低未來的成本，同時提供穩定數量的高品質內容，這是透過降低製作成本、不斷發展的格式組合以及跨線性和串流媒體優化和共享內容來實現的。

As Bob noted, we're also focused on using the collective power of Paramount Global to unlock synergies more broadly. This mindset enables headcount cost reductions, including the action we announced earlier this month, which eliminated nearly 750 domestic positions or about 5% of our domestic employees, and represents approximately $200 million in annualized run rate cost savings, the majority of which will benefit TV Media and corporate expenses. And we will continue to optimize our compensation expenses throughout the course of 2024.

正如鮑勃所指出的那樣，我們也致力於利用派拉蒙全球的集體力量來更廣泛地釋放協同效應。這種心態可以降低員工成本，包括我們本月稍早宣布的行動，該行動取消了近750 個國內職位或約5% 的國內員工，每年節省了約2 億美元的營運成本，其中大部分將有利於電視媒體和公司費用。我們將在 2024 年繼續優化薪酬支出。

As you've now heard, we're making a variety of important changes to our global workforce and content strategy. These moves reflect decisions we've made to transition our business and enhance our future value proposition. They will also result in a programming and restructuring charge in Q1 which we currently expect to be approximately $1 billion.

正如您現在所聽到的，我們正在對我們的全球員工和內容策略進行各種重要的改變。這些舉措反映了我們為轉型業務和增強未來價值主張所做的決定。它們還將導致第一季的規劃和重組費用，我們目前預計約為 10 億美元。

I'll close by sharing some guidance on how all this translates to our financial expectations for the current year. As you've now heard, we're executing against numerous initiatives designed to not only navigate ongoing ecosystem changes, but also build operating leverage in our streaming business. This means significant OIBDA growth in 2024, largely driven by improvements to our D2C P&L, which also positioned Paramount+ to reach domestic profitability in 2025, a significant milestone in our streaming journey.

最後，我將分享一些關於所有這些如何轉化為我們今年的財務預期的指導。正如您現在所聽說的，我們正在執行眾多舉措，這些舉措不僅旨在應對持續的生態系統變化，而且還旨在增強我們的串流媒體業務的營運槓桿。這意味著2024 年OIBDA 將大幅成長，這主要是由於我們D2C 損益表的改善所推動的，這也使派拉蒙+能夠在2025 年實現國內盈利，這是我們流媒體之旅的一個重要里程碑。

In addition, we're highly focused on continuing to reduce balance sheet leverage. We finished 2023 with an approximately half turn reduction in net leverage relative to Q3 following the sale of Simon & Schuster. Leverage in 2024 will benefit from material OIBDA growth and positive free cash flow. In fact, we expect free cash flow to grow in 2024 versus '23 despite an increase in cash content spend as we restart production that was impacted by the strikes.

此外，我們高度關注持續降低資產負債表槓桿。 2023 年結束時，在出售 Simon & Schuster 後，我們的淨槓桿率相對於第三季減少了約一半。 2024 年的槓桿率將受益於 OIBDA 的實質成長和正的自由現金流。事實上，儘管隨著我們重新啟動受罷工影響的生產，現金支出有所增加，但我們預計 2024 年的自由現金流將比 23 年增加。

Despite a dynamic environment, our commitment to shareholder value remains paramount. We have conviction that the value of our assets today and even more so with the benefit of strong ongoing execution represents a significant value creation opportunity. And as Bob said, we are dedicated to unlocking that value. With that, operator, let's open the line for questions.

儘管環境充滿活力，我們對股東價值的承諾仍然至關重要。我們堅信，我們今天的資產價值，尤其是憑藉強大的持續執行力，代表著巨大的價值創造機會。正如鮑伯所說，我們致力於釋放這項價值。那麼，接線員，讓我們打開提問線路。

(Operator Instructions) Our first question today goes to Bryan Kraft of Deutsche Bank.

（操作員指示）我們今天的第一個問題是向德意志銀行的 Bryan Kraft 提出的。

I had a couple. I guess would you talk about the content slate for TV and streaming this year on the TV side? Or are you shifting programming originally slated for the fall into the first half of the year, and therefore, going to have higher-than-normal programming costs in the first half of the year ex Super Bowl? Or should we expect a more normal level of programming costs for TV in the first half?

我有一對。我想您會談談今年電視方面的電視內容和串流內容嗎？或者您會將原定於秋季的節目轉移到今年上半年，因此，上半年（超級盃）的節目製作成本將高於正常水平？或者我們應該期待上半年電視節目製作成本處於更正常的水平？

And then on the streaming side, how would you compare the strength of this year's slate to last year's? And what are some of the more important titles that you think will drive customer acquisition for Paramount+? And then it would be really helpful if you could give us a sense of the mix between domestic and international Paramount+ subscribers at this point as well as where most of the growth came from in 2023?

那麼在串流媒體方面，您如何比較今年的名單與去年的實力？您認為哪些更重要的影片將推動派拉蒙+ 吸引顧客？如果您能讓我們了解目前國內和國際 Paramount+ 訂戶之間的情況以及 2023 年大部分成長來自何處，那將會非常有幫助？

And any color just on your expectations for sub growth this year in total and anything on mix would be helpful. And then just the last one was just if you could give us any sense for where the relative ARPUs are for domestic and international now. That would be great.

任何關於你今年整體成長預期的顏色以及任何關於混合的東西都會有幫助。最後一個問題是您能否讓我們了解目前國內和國際的相對 ARPU 值。那太好了。

Yes. Sure, Brian. This is Bob. I'll take the sort of the first part of that with the content and let Naveen take the second part on what I'll call the metrics. So with respect to content, Paramount, as you know, has a robust content engine and look, it's really been delivering. And now that we're through the strike, it's again in full operation

是的。當然，布萊恩。這是鮑伯。我將討論第一部分的內容，並讓納文討論第二部分，也就是我所說的指標。因此，就內容而言，正如您所知，派拉蒙擁有強大的內容引擎和外觀，它確實一直在交付。現在我們已經結束了罷工，它再次全面運作

On the TV Media side, we commented on the CBS slate earlier. Obviously, that was a delayed launch but we're up and running now. And we will run a shorter slate in terms of number of episodes, but I want to highlight just how strong it is. We had the top 16 shows, all of the top 16 in the first week, and we had 18 of the top 20, and that's really stunning for one network. So feeling really great about where CBS is and we will have a traditional fall slate launching again in the fall. So that's CBS.

在電視媒體方面，我們早些時候對哥倫比亞廣播公司的名單發表了評論。顯然，這是一個延遲的發布，但我們現在已經啟動並運行了。我們將在劇集數量方面減少劇集數量，但我想強調它的強度。我們收視了前 16 部節目，前 16 部都在第一周播出，前 20 部中我們收視了 18 部，這對於一個網絡來說真是令人驚嘆。因此，我對 CBS 的現狀感到非常滿意，我們將在秋季再次推出傳統的秋季節目。這就是哥倫比亞廣播公司。

In terms of the cable side, also have a whole set of programming coming there. Things like Yellowstone and the new Yellowstone, call it Yellowstone 2024 for now, coming to Paramount Network in the fall. A bunch of animation coming to Comedy Central plus Jon Stewart, by the way, which was Episode 3 this week, continues to grow nicely, that whole set of programming with MTV, et cetera.

在有線方面，也有一整套的節目來源。像黃石公園和新黃石公園這樣的東西，現在稱之為“黃石2024”，將於秋季在派拉蒙網絡上播出。順便說一句，喜劇中心的一堆動畫加上喬恩·斯圖爾特（Jon Stewart），本週的第 3 集，繼續良好地發展，MTV 的整套節目等等。

Moving to streaming, we feel very good about the first half. Now in the first half, we are still dealing with some strike delays with respect to content. So we've been a bit creative. But if you look at the first quarter, obviously, you had the NFL and the Super Bowl that's performed very well for us. The CBS slate, I talked about that. Also Halo, the Mean Girls movie. We're back in the UEFA business, and we got March Madness. So Q1 looks good, Q2 adds the Masters, the Bob Marley movie, Star Trek: Discovery, The Challenge: All Stars is a reality show originally from MTV now broader. Doras, a Sonic spinout called Knuckles, the return in The Chi. And then once we get into the back half of the year, we're really finally operating at full strength. And frankly, it's chock-full, things like Mayor of Kingstown Season 3, a new Ninja Turtle series, SEAL Team, Tulsa King, Special Ops, Fraser, The Chi for Season 7, The Donovans, which we announced today, a spin-off of Ray Donovan, another [tailored] series, Landman with Billy Bob Thorton, John Hamm and Demi Moore. Plus, of course, the NFL and Big Ten comeback. So we're feeling very good about Paramount+ and frankly, linear from a content perspective. Naveen?

轉向串流媒體，我們對上半場感覺非常好。現在在上半年，我們仍在處理一些內容上的罷工延遲問題。所以我們有點創意。但如果你看一下第一季度，顯然，NFL 和超級盃對我們來說表現得非常好。我談到了哥倫比亞廣播公司的名單。還有《光環》，《賤女孩》電影。我們又回到了歐足總的業務，我們迎來了瘋狂三月。所以 Q1 看起來不錯，Q2 增加了大師賽、鮑勃馬利電影、星際迷航：發現號、挑戰：全明星是一個最初來自 MTV 的真人秀，現在更廣泛了。多拉斯（Doras），索尼克衍生品《納克魯斯》（Knuckles），在《The Chi》中回歸。一旦進入今年下半年，我們真的終於可以全力運作了。坦白說，內容很豐富，像是《金斯敦市長》第3 季、新的《忍者龜》系列、《海豹部隊》、《塔爾薩之王》、《特別行動》、《弗雷澤》、第7 季的《The Chi》、《多諾萬》，我們今天宣布了一部旋轉 -雷·多諾萬(Ray Donovan) 的另一部[定制]系列劇《蘭德曼》( Landman 與比利鮑伯松頓(Billy Bob Thorton)、約翰哈姆(John Hamm) 和黛米摩爾(Demi Moore) 合作。當然，還有 NFL 和十大聯盟的回歸。所以我們對派拉蒙+感覺非常好，坦白說，從內容的角度來看，它是線性的。納文？

Yes. Thanks. So Bryan, I'll try to give you a little insight on streaming subs. So maybe just starting with Q4. As you saw, we added 4.1 million subs to Paramount+ in the quarter. I think it's fair to characterize that growth as being relatively balanced as between domestic subs and international subs.

是的。謝謝。 Bryan，我將嘗試向您提供有關串流媒體訂閱者的一些見解。所以也許只是從第四季開始。如您所見，本季度我們向 Paramount+ 增加了 410 萬訂閱者。我認為將國內潛艇和國際潛艇之間的增長描述為相對平衡是公平的。

On the domestic side, I think the content slate performed really well despite obviously, some strike impact. I think that speaks to the benefit of having a balanced sports and entertainment portfolio. So that worked well for us. We also saw some nice performance in the quarter from partnerships like what we do with Walmart and the bundle with Walmart+. And then on the international side, we launched a new hard bundle with J:COM in Japan. So that obviously contributed to sub growth.

在國內方面，我認為儘管明顯受到一些罷工影響，但內容表現確實不錯。我認為這說明了擁有平衡的運動和娛樂組合的好處。所以這對我們來說效果很好。我們還看到了本季合作關係的一些不錯的表現，例如我們與沃爾瑪的合作以及與沃爾瑪+的捆綁銷售。然後在國際方面，我們在日本與 J:COM 推出了新的硬包。因此，這顯然促進了次增長。

In terms of what we're seeing this year, 2024 sub expectations, I do think sub growth in '24 will be lower than 2023. Though importantly, I'd point out, we do still expect very healthy Paramount+ revenue growth. And of course, revenue is the more important metric than subs. But just to give you a little color behind my comment on the sub trends themselves, there are a number of factors at play. First, you got the Super Bowl. We were very excited about the magnitude of starts that we saw from the Super Bowl. I think it's a little early to assess exactly what that means in terms of how many will be retained, obviously, you do have high churn on an event like that. But we're encouraged by what we've seen thus far. The content slate, because of the strike, as you heard Bob described, is a little bit back-half loaded, and so that kind of affects the timing of subs coming on. And then international, which, as you heard in our prepared remarks, we've made a number of changes. We talked about dialing back on local content and marketing. That has some impact on subs. We will also likely be exiting some hard bundle relationships where, quite frankly, the economics just weren't that compelling. And that can probably represent a loss of a couple of million subs, if you will.

就我們今年看到的2024 年次級預期而言，我確實認為24 年的次級增長將低於2023 年。儘管重要的是，我要指出，我們仍然預計派拉蒙+收入增長非常健康。當然，收入是比訂閱者更重要的指標。但為了讓大家了解我對次趨勢本身的評論，有很多因素在起作用。首先，你獲得了超級盃。我們對超級盃比賽中看到的開局規模感到非常興奮。我認為現在要準確評估這對保留多少人意味著什麼還為時過早，顯然，這樣的事件確實有很高的流失率。但我們對迄今為止所看到的情況感到鼓舞。正如您聽到鮑勃所描述的那樣，由於罷工，內容板岩有點後半加載，因此這會影響潛艇的播放時間。然後是國際方面，正如您在我們準備好的發言中聽到的那樣，我們做出了一些改變。我們討論了回歸本地內容和行銷。這對潛艇有一些影響。我們也可能會退出一些硬捆綁關係，坦白說，這些關係的經濟效益並不那麼引人注目。如果你願意的話，這可能意味著數百萬訂閱者的損失。

But in both of those cases, while it impacts subs, doesn't have a material impact on revenue or EBITDA. And so that's why, as I said, there's a little bit of noise in the sub trends. But feeling very good about the revenue growth trend on Paramount+.

但在這兩種情況下，雖然它會影響潛艇，但不會對收入或 EBITDA 產生重大影響。正如我所說，這就是為什麼子趨勢中存在一些噪音。但對派拉蒙+的營收成長趨勢感覺非常好。

Oh, I'm sorry, you had a question on relative ARPU between international and domestic. As you know, we don't disclose specific numbers there, but I can tell you that domestic ARPU continues to be higher than what you see in international. The other thing to keep in mind is that international really has a number of different components to it. So there's territories in Western Europe, for example, where the ARPUs look a little more like they do in the United States. And one of the things that has contributed to overall ARPU growth both in '23, and will continue to do so in '24 is the fact that we'll be seeing more growth in those, call it, higher ARPU international markets than what we've seen in the early days of Paramount+.

哦，抱歉，您有一個關於國際和國內相對 ARPU 的問題。如您所知，我們沒有透露具體數字，但我可以告訴您，國內 ARPU 仍然高於國際。另一件需要記住的事情是，國際化確實有許多不同的組成部分。例如，西歐某些地區的 ARPU 看起來更像美國。推動 23 年 ARPU 整體成長並將在 24 年繼續如此的因素之一是，我們將看到那些 ARPU 較高的國際市場的成長速度比我們預期的要快。派拉蒙+早期就見過。

The next question goes to Michael Morris of Guggenheim Partners.

下一個問題問古根漢合夥人公司的麥可莫里斯。

Two topics, one on sports and one on content, if I can. On sports, the sports JV between Disney, Fox and Warner Bros has been a pretty high profile. I'm curious if you can share your thoughts on what you think that means for the competitive marketplace, whether you expect it to impact you and whether it might spur you to look for a partnership yourself? So that's my first question.

如果可以的話，兩個主題，一個關於體育，一個關於內容。在體育方面，迪士尼、福斯和華納兄弟之間的體育合資企業一直備受矚目。我很好奇您是否可以分享您的想法，您認為這對競爭激烈的市場意味著什麼，您是否期望它會對您產生影響，以及它是否會促使您自己尋找合作夥伴？這是我的第一個問題。

And then my second on content. As we talk about kind of repopulating the slate, the licensing revenue at the company has been pretty stable until this past year when it came down, I think, during the strikes. Do you expect it to return to a level that you saw in 2021, 2022?

然後是我的第二個內容。當我們談論重新填充名單時，該公司的許可收入一直相當穩定，直到去年，我認為在罷工期間它有所下降。您預計它會恢復到 2021 年、2022 年的水平嗎？

And just one other thing, Bob, when you were talking about windowing, you mentioned Tulsa King and maybe putting that on linear before you put it on streaming, which seems a little inverted from what we would expect. So did I hear that right? And maybe if you could speak to that strategy a little bit, I would appreciate it.

鮑勃，還有另一件事，當您談論窗口時，您提到了塔爾薩·金（Tulsa King），也許在將其置於流式傳輸之前將其置於線性，這似乎與我們的預期有點相反。那我沒聽錯吧？也許如果您能稍微談談該策略，我將不勝感激。

Yes. Sure, Michael. So starting with the sports topic. Look, start with the fact that there's still a lot we don't know about this service, things like price, packaging, consumer appetite. And to the consumer point, for a true sports fan, this product only has a subset of sports. It's missing half the NFL, a lot of college, has virtually no soccer or golf, et cetera. So look, that's hard to believe that's ideal, especially at the price points that have been speculated.

是的。當然，邁克爾。那就從體育話題開始吧。首先，我們對這項服務還有很多不了解的地方，像是價格、包裝、消費者的胃口。對於消費者來說，對於真正的體育迷來說，該產品只包含體育運動的子集。它缺少一半的 NFL、很多大學、幾乎沒有足球或高爾夫等等。所以看，這很難相信這是理想的，特別是在已經推測的價格點上。

In terms of our view on sports, first, we serve true sports fans through our MVPD and virtual MVPD partnership. That provides the full complement of sports really year round. And second, we see clear value to an integrated sports entertainment strategy, true both for CBS and Paramount+, by the way, but if you look at the streaming side, Paramount+ we clearly see consumers watching both. I referenced this 90% factor, i.e., people that come in for sports on Paramount+, 90% of their engagement is with nonsports. So that's a clear opportunity that we're continuing to exploit and we like. And our sports, our Marquee NFL, NCAA, UEFA, those are locked up into the next decade. So we have a real sustainable advantage here. Bottom line, we very much like where we are with respect to sports execution and see the Paramount strategy creating substantial value therein.

就我們對體育的看法而言，首先，我們透過 MVPD 和虛擬 MVPD 合作夥伴關係為真正的體育迷提供服務。這實際上為全年提供了全面的運動補充。其次，我們看到了綜合體育娛樂策略的明顯價值，順便說一句，對於哥倫比亞廣播公司和派拉蒙+來說都是如此，但如果你看看流媒體方面，派拉蒙+我們清楚地看到消費者在觀看這兩種策略。我提到了這個 90% 因素，即在 Paramount+ 上觀看體育活動的人，90% 的參與度是非體育活動。因此，這是一個我們正在繼續利用並且我們喜歡的明顯機會。我們的運動，我們的 NFL、NCAA、UEFA，這些都鎖定在下一個十年。所以我們在這裡擁有真正的永續優勢。最重要的是，我們非常喜歡我們在體育執行方面的現狀，並看到派拉蒙策略在其中創造了巨大的價值。

Let me briefly comment on Tulsa. You misheard it. What we're going to do is we're going to put the first season of Tulsa on CBS prior to the second season of Tulsa dropping on Paramount+, really using it as a broad marketing engine. And as you know, we did a variant of that idea with Yellowstone, and we really saw continued broadening of the audience. And so we think that's a real opportunity for Tulsa as well given Stallone, et cetera. And we also think it's attractive from an economic perspective. You want to comment on the licensing thing, Naveen?

讓我簡單評論一下塔爾薩。你聽錯了。我們要做的是，在《塔爾薩》第二季在 Paramount+ 上播出之前，先在 CBS 上播出《塔爾薩》第一季，真正將其用作廣泛的營銷引擎。如您所知，我們在黃石公園做了這個想法的變體，我們確實看到了觀眾的不斷擴大。因此，我們認為這對塔爾薩以及史泰龍等來說都是一個真正的機會。我們也認為從經濟角度來看它很有吸引力。你想對許可問題發表評論嗎，納文？

Yes, sure. Mike, I think, for the most part, your thesis is correct on licensing. We do expect licensing to grow this year as I flagged in the past. The quarter-to-quarter trends on licensing can be lumpy just because there's a lot of timing elements that can affect revenue recognition. But given that licensing was impacted by the strike last year, this should be, call it, a more normal year from a licensing perspective. It probably does mean it's a little bit back-half loaded because it will take a little time to be able to produce and then deliver all of that content. But in general, we're looking forward to the year.

是的，當然。麥克，我認為，在很大程度上，你關於許可的論文是正確的。正如我過去所指出的那樣，我們確實預計今年的許可證數量將會增加。許可的季度趨勢可能不穩定，因為有許多時間因素會影響收入確認。但考慮到許可證受到去年罷工的影響，從許可的角度來看，今年應該是更正常的一年。這可能確實意味著它有點後半加載，因為需要一些時間才能產生並交付所有這些內容。但總的來說，我們對這一年充滿期待。

I'd also note that in our licensing revenue includes things like studio rentals, which were also impacted by the strike. So that's another place where we get a benefit in '24 versus '23.

我還想指出，我們的授權收入包括工作室租金等，這些也受到了罷工的影響。因此，這是我們在 24 年相對於 23 年獲得優勢的另一個地方。

The next question goes to Ben Swinburne of Morgan Stanley.

下一個問題將由摩根士丹利的本‧斯溫伯恩 (Ben Swinburne) 提出。

Questions are on Paramount+. Thank you for all the guidance that you laid out in your prepared remarks. Maybe for Naveen you haven't talked about sort of international versus domestic EBIT or EBITDA in the past. I don't know if there's any way to help us think about what domestic profitability means at the segment level or any way to dimensionalize that disclosure?

問題請參閱派拉蒙+。感謝您在準備好的發言中提供的所有指導。也許對於 Naveen 來說，您過去沒有談論過國際與國內 EBIT 或 EBITDA 的比較。我不知道是否有任何方法可以幫助我們思考國內獲利能力在細分市場層面意味著什麼，或者有什麼方法可以將揭露維度化？

And then on the $1 billion charge, it sounded like that was programming and restructuring. I just wanted to make sure that was true and if you had any rough sense of relative sizing. And if you could just tell us, is that programming tied to the sort of international strategy shift that you guys have talked about?

然後關於 10 億美元的費用，聽起來像是編程和重組。我只是想確保這是真的，以及您是否對相對大小有任何粗略的認識。如果你能告訴我們，該計劃是否與您們談論的國際戰略轉變有關？

And then lastly, also in Paramount+, you said programming cost growth at Paramount+ or D2C should be significantly lower than the ARPU growth of over 20%. That's a pretty wide range of outcomes. I just wondered if maybe you could put a finer point on your expectations for Paramount+ programming costs for '24?

最後，同樣在 Paramount+ 中，您表示 Paramount+ 或 D2C 的節目製作成本成長應顯著低於超過 20% 的 ARPU 成長。這是一個相當廣泛的結果。我只是想知道您是否可以更詳細地說明您對 24 世紀派拉蒙 + 節目製作成本的預期？

Yes. Thanks, Ben. Let me try to hit all those. So first of all, in terms of our comments on Paramount+ profitability and in particular, sort of the domestic trend, if you will, versus the linear, I'd say a few things. So first of all, most of the year-over-year improvement in the D2C P&L in '24 will be driven by the domestic Paramount+ business. That is driven by benefits. We talked about sub growth, ARPU growth to a slightly lesser extent, content efficiencies.

是的。謝謝，本。讓我嘗試擊中所有這些。首先，就我們對派拉蒙+獲利能力的評論而言，特別是國內趨勢，如果你願意的話，相對於線性趨勢，我想說幾句話。因此，首先，24年D2C損益表的年比改善大部分將由國內派拉蒙+業務推動。這是利益驅動的。我們討論了子增長、ARPU 增長（程度稍小）以及內容效率。

While domestic is the bigger contributor, I do also expect to see some pretty material improvement in profitability at Paramount+ international. The drivers there are a little bit different. That's going to be more about the evolving sub mix and what that does to ARPU. I kind of touched on that on the prior question, along with the benefits that we get from the content and marketing efficiencies related to really leaning into global content and dialing back on local. There are some significant dollars to be saved there, not just on the content side of it, but on the marketing side as well because the local stuff typically requires a pretty healthy dose of marketing to get to, call it, sufficient levels of awareness.

雖然國內市場的貢獻更大，但我也預期派拉蒙+國際公司的獲利能力會出現一些相當大的實質改善。那裡的司機有點不同。這將更涉及不斷發展的子組合及其對 ARPU 的影響。我在前一個問題上談到了這一點，以及我們從內容和行銷效率中獲得的好處，這些好處與真正傾向於全球內容和回撥本地內容相關。那裡可以節省大量資金，不僅在內容方面，而且在行銷方面，因為本地產品通常需要相當健康的行銷劑量才能達到足夠的認知度。

So I think the international business we generally think of as being, call it, 12 to 18 months behind the domestic business. We obviously launched outside the United States later than we did domestically. And we're continuing to optimize that business in the same way we are the domestic side to get it to profitability soon after. So that's sort of the first part of your question.

因此，我認為我們通常認為的國際業務比國內業務落後 12 到 18 個月。顯然，我們在美國境外的推出比在國內的推出晚。我們將繼續以與國內業務相同的方式優化該業務，以便很快就會實現盈利。這就是你問題的第一部分。

Your second question on the $1 billion charge. You're correct, that includes programming charges as well as restructuring charges. I think you'll see some of the details around that in the [K], but you should assume there's about $200 million of restructuring charge in that number. And the programming piece does include charges related to the changes that we're making in international.

你的第二個問題是關於10億美元的指控。你是對的，這包括程式費用和重組費用。我想您會在 [K] 中看到一些相關細節，但您應該假設該數字中有大約 2 億美元的重組費用。節目內容確實包括與我們在國際方面所做的更改相關的費用。

And then with respect to your last question on the, call it, trend line of programming costs relative to ARPU. We weren't trying to be cute in the -- sort of the 20%. You should assume that the growth rate on, I'll say, cash programming for Paramount+ is going to be significantly lower than the growth rate we talked about on ARPU. The [amort] piece will be also lower than ARPU, but we'll still see some, call it, slightly abnormal growth because of the unwind from the strike in '23.

然後關於你的最後一個問題，即節目成本相對於 ARPU 的趨勢線。我們並不想在 20% 的人中表現得可愛。你應該假設派拉蒙+現金節目的成長率將明顯低於我們討論的 ARPU 成長率。 [amort]部分也將低於ARPU，但我們仍然會看到一些，稱之為輕微異常增長，因為23年罷工的緩解。

The next question goes to Steven Cahall of Wells Fargo.

下一個問題將問富國銀行的史蒂文·卡霍爾。

So first, I was wondering if I could just get your comment on skinny bundles and how you're thinking about an industry push towards more skinny bundles, kind of follows on the earlier question about the sports streaming JV. It seems like MVPDs are going to continue to look for this. I think you traditionally often looked for CBS to be distributed with a lot of your cable networks. And I'm wondering if you have any change in thinking in terms of sort of meeting MVPDs or consumers, especially as you have some renewals, I think, coming up this year.

首先，我想知道您是否可以得到您對瘦身捆綁的評論，以及您如何看待行業推動更瘦身捆綁的想法，這有點像之前有關體育流媒體合資企業的問題。 MVPD 似乎將繼續尋找這一點。我認為您傳統上經常尋找與許多有線電視網絡一起分發的 CBS。我想知道您在與 MVPD 或消費者會面方面的想法是否有任何變化，尤其是今年您將進行一些續約。

And then on the advertising market, I think after Q3, you said that you were seeing some modest improvement in domestic ads. It seems like that in Q4 that didn't quite come through, you seem more positive on stabilization in the Q1 outlook that you gave. So I would love to just hear about what's changed to cause that? And then specifically anything on Pluto's sequential advertising growth trends as well?

然後在廣告市場上，我認為在第三季之後，您說您看到國內廣告有所改善。看起來第四季度並沒有完全實現，您似乎對您給出的第一季前景的穩定更加樂觀。所以我很想聽聽是什麼原因導致了這種情況？那麼 Pluto 的連續廣告成長趨勢有什麼特別的嗎？

Yes. Sure, Steve. So on the skinny bundle side, since we brought the companies together, we've obviously been distributing a full package CBS plus the cable networks. And by the way, including streaming products, advanced ad sales, et cetera. We are in some of the skinny bundles, if you will, Charter Spectrum Essentials, Sling, et cetera, with a set of cable networks. That is from deals that were done a while ago, which we continue to roll forward. So it is a piece of the market we participate in. And look, we've seen some nice growth, particularly at Charter, but that's that point.

是的。當然，史蒂夫。因此，在瘦身捆綁方面，自從我們將這些公司合併在一起以來，我們顯然一直在分發 CBS 加上有線電視網絡的完整套餐。順便說一下，包括串流媒體產品、高級廣告銷售等等。如果你願意的話，我們屬於一些瘦身捆綁包，包括 Charter Spectrum Essentials、Sling 等，以及一組有線網絡。這是來自不久前完成的交易，我們將繼續推進這些交易。所以這是我們參與的市場的一部分。看，我們已經看到了一些不錯的成長，特別是在 Charter，但那就是這一點。

Second, in terms of domestic advertising, Look, in terms of the current ad market, strikes and political were clearly a headwind in Q4. And thankfully, we're through the strikes, and that's behind us. As I indicated in my remarks, we are seeing signs of stabilization, notably healthy scatter premiums. Sports clearly remains a bright spot, NFL Super Bowl, and I'm thrilled that we have the NCAA and UEFA and Masters as we get into this -- continue in 2024. And more broadly, we are seeing healthy growth in many categories, including consumer products, quick service restaurants and retail. I'd also say that, that's all domestic. The international side was tough last year. We are seeing stabilization there as well, but currency does really remain a headwind.

第二，就國內廣告而言，你看，就目前的廣告市場而言，罷工和政治顯然是第四季的逆風。值得慶幸的是，我們已經度過了罷工，一切都已經過去了。正如我在演講中指出的那樣，我們看到了穩定的跡象，尤其是健康的分散溢價。體育顯然仍然是一個亮點，NFL 超級碗，我很高興我們在 2024 年繼續進入這一領域，我們擁有 NCAA、UEFA 和大師賽。更廣泛地說，我們看到許多類別的健康增長，包括消費品、快餐店和零售。我還想說，這都是國內的。去年的國際賽場很難熬。我們也看到了那裡的穩定，但貨幣確實仍然是一個阻力。

In terms of Pluto, that's really part of our broader digital business, digital ad sales there. I'd start by noting we have strong trends in digital ad revenue. We were up 14% in the fourth quarter. And while it's true, there's more competition in the Connected TV space. That's a $25 billion plus business, a lot of spend out there. And we're certainly not standing still. We like our positioning. If you want to take it in pieces, look at content in the eyes of advertisers, content matters and our offering of Hollywood content plus sports, which, by the way, is true on Pluto too, Pluto being more of a library service, Paramount+ being a first run plus library service. But our content resonates and people like to be in those environments. EyeQ, which is how we sell our digital product, the combination of Paramount+ and Pluto and some other full episode video. It's one of the industry's largest high-quality digital video platforms. So we have real scale to compete there, and that's a very good thing.

就冥王星而言，這確實是我們更廣泛的數位業務、數位廣告銷售的一部分。首先我要指出的是，我們在數位廣告收入方面有著強勁的趨勢。第四季我們成長了 14%。雖然這是事實，但聯網電視領域的競爭更加激烈。這是一項價值超過 250 億美元的業務，花費很大。我們當然不會停滯不前。我們喜歡我們的定位。如果你想把它分成幾個部分，看看廣告商眼中的內容，內容很重要，我們提供好萊塢內容和體育內容，順便說一句，冥王星上也是如此，冥王星更多的是圖書館服務，派拉蒙+作為首次運作加上圖書館服務。但我們的內容引起了共鳴，人們喜歡置身於這些環境中。 EyeQ，這是我們銷售數位產品的方式，Paramount+ 和 Pluto 的組合以及其他一些完整的劇集影片。它是業界最大的高品質數位視訊平台之一。所以我們在那裡有真正的競爭規模，這是一件非常好的事情。

And third, we're doing a lot of work as we evolve more and more into the performance space, advancing our data and measurement. We talked about a bit in the script, but working with retail media networks, attribution providers to really enhance the bottom of the funnel piece of our offering. We've already talked about what we're doing there with Walmart Connect, combining Walmart first-party data with our premium inventory, seeing early benefit there. Beyond that, there are other attribution players in the pipeline that have real scale. That includes retailers, credit card providers. So there's more to come there. And you'll really see this all come together in the next upfront. But we continue to be very excited about the digital space in general and positioning Paramount ad sales for success in what is and continues to be an expanding market.

第三，隨著我們越來越多地進入性能領域，我們正在做大量的工作，推進我們的數據和測量。我們在劇本中討論了一些內容，但與零售媒體網路、歸因提供者合作，真正增強了我們產品漏斗部分的底部。我們已經討論過我們透過 Walmart Connect 所做的事情，將沃爾瑪第一方資料與我們的優質庫存相結合，並在那裡看到了早期的好處。除此之外，還有其他具有真正規模的歸因公司正在醞釀中。其中包括零售商、信用卡提供者。所以還有更多的事情要做。在接下來的內容中，您將真正看到這一切。但我們仍然對整個數位空間感到非常興奮，並將派拉蒙廣告銷售定位為在這個不斷擴大的市場中取得成功。

The next question goes to Jessica Reif Ehrlich of Bank of America Securities.

下一個問題是向美國銀行證券公司的傑西卡·雷夫·埃利希提出的。

A couple of things. One, I mean, there's been tons of press on M&A interest. I was wondering if you could maybe talk about how you're thinking about strategic options and what the time frame would be to put this aside or move on. And within that, maybe some bundling options for Paramount+, how you're thinking about that. And then on the restructuring or the charge that you're taking in first quarter, it sounds like you're attacking costs. I'm just wondering, is there -- do you feel like there's more to go? And post the $1 billion charge, how much will the cost base be reduced? And then finally, you do have a big contract coming up in the spring. Can you give us some help in how you're thinking about -- like if you think about what happened with Disney, if the diginets go away, can you size or help us think about what's the financial impact?

有幾件事。我的意思是，第一，關於併購興趣的媒體有很多。我想知道您是否可以談談您如何考慮戰略選擇以及將其擱置或繼續前進的時間範圍。其中，也許有一些派拉蒙+的捆綁選項，你是如何考慮的。然後，關於第一季的重組或費用，聽起來你正在攻擊成本。我只是想知道，你覺得還有更多的事情要做嗎？扣除 10 億美元費用後，成本基礎將減少多少？最後，你確實會在春季簽訂一份大合約。您能否就您的想法向我們提供一些幫助 - 例如，如果您考慮迪士尼發生的事情，如果數字消失，您能否衡量或幫助我們考慮財務影響是什麼？

Yes. Sure, Jessica. Let me take the first part of this, and Naveen will pick up some of it. So first, in terms of M&A, look, at Paramount, we're always looking for ways to create shareholder value. And to be clear, that's for all shareholders. But I'm not going to get into commenting on any speculation or time line, et cetera. But it's obviously something we are focused on. But this call is really about talking business, which goes to your second question, I guess, bundling or options for Paramount+. As you know, we're big believers in bundling. It is one of the tried and true methods of value creation in media. It's certainly the case in streaming. When you think about streaming, the benefits or potential benefits of bundling include, look, strengthening your consumer proposition. That allows you to drive subscribers, enhance your share, reduce your churn. You get access potentially to an existing subscriber base. That lowers or potentially eliminate SAC. As an offset, it does require some form of revenue concession. It might be a revenue share, might be wholesale pricing. So it does have an ARPU effect. But if you look at LTV, the result is a clear win. And I'd point out that this is not a conceptual theory for us. We already have substantial experience with the power of bundling and streaming. As you know, we have hard bundles internationally with people like Sky, Canal and others. They've been key to our market entry strategy, they are unquestionably additive to our Paramount+ subbase and economics. There's also things like Walmart+ in the U.S., which is another form of a bundle. That partnership has been incremental to our overall Walmart relationship. It's clearly additive to subs and engagement. And by the way, it's now creating incremental opportunity in ad sales as we expand into retail media. Even SkyShowtime is another version of a bundle, albeit in a joint venture structure that, again, enhances the consumer proposition and actually allows us to reduce investment levels in a set of markets because it's a combined product we're going at. So net-net, we strongly believe in bundling and the associated value creation opportunity, and we continue to look to incremental opportunities in that regard. Naveen, do you want to talk about the restructuring point?

是的。當然，傑西卡。讓我先講第一部分，納文會講一部分。首先，在併購方面，看看派拉蒙，我們一直在尋找創造股東價值的方法。需要明確的是，這適用於所有股東。但我不會對任何猜測或時間表等發表評論。但這顯然是我們關注的重點。但這通電話實際上是在談論業務，我想這涉及到你的第二個問題，即派拉蒙+的捆綁或選項。如您所知，我們堅信捆綁銷售。這是媒體中久經考驗的價值創造方法之一。在串流媒體領域確實如此。當您考慮串流媒體時，捆綁的好處或潛在好處包括加強您的消費者主張。這可以讓您吸引訂閱者，提高份額，減少流失。您有可能接觸到現有的訂戶群。這會降低或可能消除 SAC。作為補償，它確實需要某種形式的收入讓步。它可能是收入分成，也可能是批發定價。所以它確實有ARPU效應。但如果你看看 LTV，結果是明顯的勝利。我想指出，這對我們來說不是一個概念理論。我們已經在捆綁和串流媒體的力量方面擁有豐富的經驗。如您所知，我們在國際上與 Sky、Canal 等公司有硬捆綁。它們一直是我們市場進入策略的關鍵，毫無疑問它們對我們的派拉蒙+基地和經濟起到了補充作用。美國還有沃爾瑪+，這是另一種捆綁形式。這種夥伴關係對我們與沃爾瑪的整體關係是有益的。它顯然可以增加潛水艇和參與度。順便說一句，隨著我們擴展到零售媒體，它現在正在為廣告銷售創造增量機會。甚至 SkyShowtime 也是捆綁產品的另一個版本，儘管是合資結構，但它再次增強了消費者主張，實際上使我們能夠減少在一系列市場的投資水平，因為它是我們要開發的組合產品。因此，我們堅信捆綁和相關的價值創造機會，我們將繼續尋找這方面的增量機會。 Naveen，你想談談重組的問題嗎？

Yes. So look, I think the short answer is that we believe there is continued opportunity to find efficiencies in the business. That's true both on the traditional linear side of the business and on the streaming side. On the streaming side, it's really more about how we grow even more efficiently and on the linear side, it's really about how we preserve the margins in that business. And you've seen us take a variety of actions, not just the elements that we spoke about today. But over the past few years, where we have combined organizations we've taken out overhead. In some cases, we've leveraged programming across different platforms. And you'll see us continue to do more of all of that going forward.

是的。因此，我認為簡短的答案是，我們相信有持續的機會來提高業務效率。無論是在傳統的線性業務方面還是在串流媒體方面都是如此。在串流媒體方面，更多的是我們如何更有效地成長，而在線性方面，這實際上是我們如何保持該業務的利潤。您已經看到我們採取了各種行動，而不僅僅是我們今天談到的內容。但在過去的幾年裡，我們合併了組織，並削減了管理費用。在某些情況下，我們利用了跨不同平台的程式設計。您會看到我們繼續在這方面做更多的事情。

Content is still the single biggest cost item for us, and that's one of the reasons why, as I noted, we're focused on programming our linear nets as efficiently as we can while maintaining a strong volume of high-quality content.

內容仍然是我們最大的成本項目，正如我所指出的，這就是為什麼我們專注於盡可能高效地對線性網路進行編程，同時保持大量高品質內容的原因之一。

And on the streaming side, we're using what we've learned about viewership to really figure out where to place our bets and how to continue to drive engagement without having to significantly increase the amount of call it, cash content spend that we're using for Paramount+. So this is something that we continue to be focused on, and you will see us unlock further efficiencies across the board going forward.

在串流媒體方面，我們正在利用我們對收視率的了解來真正弄清楚在哪裡下注，以及如何繼續推動參與度，而不必顯著增加我們所謂的現金內容支出。正在用於派拉蒙+。因此，這是我們繼續關注的事情，您將看到我們未來全面提高效率。

And then Jessica, in terms of your last question, we don't really comment on individual deals, but I'd ask you to remember three things. First, our content offering is strong. It's really a must have in the eyes of U.S. pay TV consumers. Second, as you know, we have many levers to pull in these distribution deals to address client objectives, linear networks, advanced advertising, streaming products, both free and pay, et cetera. And as you know, objectives vary across companies, so it's important that you can get to, if you will, bespoke solutions. And third, it's allowed us to get all of our deals done. In fact, we've now lapped every client multiple times over my tenure as CEO. So there's a lot to work with there.

傑西卡，就你的最後一個問題而言，我們不會真正評論個別交易，但我請你記住三件事。首先，我們提供的內容很豐富。這確實是美國付費電視消費者眼中的必備品。其次，如您所知，我們有許多手段來拉動這些分銷交易來實現客戶目標、線性網路、高級廣告、免費和付費的串流產品等等。如您所知，不同公司的目標各不相同，因此如果您願意的話，獲得客製化解決方案非常重要。第三，它使我們能夠完成所有交易。事實上，在我擔任執行長期間，我們已經多次擊敗了每位客戶。因此，還有很多工作要做。

In terms of a U.S. deal that potentially involves D2C, I'd say the following. It is along the lines of our international hard bundled deals. As we just said, we like the benefits of that structure. Benefits are increased reach, ad monetization opportunity, reduced churn, lower SAC. Yes, trade-off is a lower wholesale rate. But net-net, the LTV can be compelling. And again, beyond D2C, there'll be lots of levers to pull in this discussion. And in terms of the carriage question, the reality is these deals represent a combination of factors. So that's not necessarily the way future deals will play out. Net-net, a lot to work with, demonstrated ability to get things done. And we're always focused on getting to a win-win solution for a partner, and we'll get there.

對於可能涉及 D2C 的美國交易，我想說以下內容。這與我們的國際硬捆綁交易類似。正如我們剛才所說，我們喜歡這種結構的好處。好處是增加覆蓋率、廣告貨幣化機會、減少客戶流失、降低 SAC。是的，權衡是批發價較低。但是，LTV 可能非常引人注目。再說一次，除了 D2C 之外，還有很多手段可以參與這個討論。就運輸問題而言，現實情況是這些交易代表了多種因素的綜合作用。因此，這不一定是未來交易的方式。 Net-net，有很多工作要做，展示了完成工作的能力。我們始終致力於為合作夥伴提供雙贏的解決方案，我們一定會實現這一目標。

The next question goes to Robert Fishman of MoffettNathanson.

下一個問題將詢問 MoffettNathanson 的 Robert Fishman。

I have one for Bob and one for Naveen, please. Bob, can you talk more about the potential licensing opportunities? I'm thinking specifically for Paramount+ exclusive original content to potentially third parties? And your view on keeping that original content and even your bigger library that's already in Paramount+ to yourselves versus looking to monetize that content to help drive upside to cash flows going forward?

請給鮑伯一份，給納文一份。鮑勃，您能多談談潛在的許可機會嗎？我正在專門考慮向潛在第三方提供派拉蒙+獨家原創內容？您對保留派拉蒙+中已有的原創內容甚至更大的圖書館的看法，還是尋求將這些內容貨幣化以幫助推動未來現金流的成長？

And then Naveen, any way to help frame how much the Hollywood strikes benefited either the quarter or the full year '23? And then on the related note to the first question, as you think about growing free cash flow in '24 despite the increase in content spending, just if you can help us think about how much licensing helps drive that growth.

然後 Naveen，有什麼方法可以幫助確定好萊塢罷工對 23 年季度或全年的好處有多大嗎？然後，關於第一個問題的相關註釋，當你考慮到 24 年自由現金流的成長時，儘管內容支出有所增加，但如果你能幫助我們思考有多少許可證有助於推動這種成長。

Yes. Sure, Robert. So start with the fact that we continue to believe building a scaled streaming business is an attractive value creation path. If you think about it historically, networks, of which, streaming is the next or current iteration, have had superior value characteristics relative to studios. They allow more control over monetization, particularly in success. They allow control over marketing and promotion, which importantly allows you to use one hit to build another, think the old concept of lead-in. And you have direct connectivity with viewers, and that's particularly true in streaming. And I'd remind you that Paramount+, our network really has sustained momentum. It's ahead of plan in terms of the past profitability, and it is poised for domestic profitability in 2025. That being said, we recognize the inherent value of our content, and we know that others do too, and that is optionality we maintain, which we believe has real value because the market for high-quality content, feature films, signature series, Kids franchises, which is really our wheelhouse in general and certainly with respect to Paramount+. That market remains strong, and it just relate back to being at MIPCOM in October, where countless clients that I met with and the whole team was there, were looking for great content and meeting our partnership, if you will. So there is tremendous opportunity there. Again, we think using our content to drive asset value creation in the form of Paramount+, given the momentum we have is the right plan A, but we have optionality in that regard, and we clearly have valuable product.

是的。當然，羅伯特。首先，我們仍然相信建立規模化的串流媒體業務是一條有吸引力的價值創造途徑。如果你從歷史上看，網路（其中串流媒體是下一個或當前的迭代）相對於工作室具有優越的價值特徵。它們允許對貨幣化有更多的控制，特別是在成功的情況下。它們允許控制行銷和促銷，重要的是允許您使用一個點擊來建立另一個點擊，想想導入的舊概念。而且您可以與觀眾直接連接，這在串流媒體中尤其如此。我想提醒您的是，派拉蒙+，我們的網路確實具有持續的勢頭。就過去的盈利能力而言，它超出了計劃，並準備在2025 年實現國內盈利。話雖如此，我們認識到我們內容的內在價值，我們知道其他人也這樣做，這就是我們保持的選擇性，這我們相信它具有真正的價值，因為高品質內容、長片、經典系列、兒童特許經營權的市場，這確實是我們的整體駕駛室，當然對於派拉蒙+而言也是如此。這個市場仍然強勁，這與 10 月份的 MIPCOM 有關，在那裡我遇到了無數客戶，整個團隊都在那裡，他們正在尋找精彩的內容並滿足我們的合作夥伴關係（如果你願意的話）。所以那裡有巨大的機會。同樣，我們認為，考慮到我們擁有的勢頭，利用我們的內容以派拉蒙+的形式推動資產價值創造是正確的A 計劃，但我們在這方面有選擇權，而且我們顯然擁有有價值的產品。

Let me try to hit your questions, Rob, on free cash flow, licensing, strikes, et cetera. And I'd start by just saying we are intending to deliver free cash flow growth in 2024. That's very important. And the biggest driver of that is significant improvement in OIBDA, and we've talked about the various contributors to that. Licensing is one of the contributors. As I said, I expect licensing revenue to grow in the year, and that benefits both OIBDA and cash flow. But I wouldn't say that it's sort of an inordinate impact relative to what it has been in prior years.

羅布，讓我試著回答你關於自由現金流、許可、罷工等問題。我首先要說的是，我們打算在 2024 年實現自由現金流成長。這非常重要。其中最大的推動力是 OIBDA 的顯著改進，我們已經討論了對此的各個貢獻者。許可是貢獻者之一。正如我所說，我預計今年的授權收入將會成長，這對 OIBDA 和現金流都有好處。但我不會說與前幾年相比，這是過度的影響。

I'd also note that our cash spend in '23 came in at about $16.5 billion. That was lower than the prior year as a result of the strikes. And our plan for '24 contemplates spending really only about 50% of, call it, the strike savings back. And that's a critical ingredient in our ability to drive healthy growth in free cash flow in the year. So that's something we're looking forward to executing against.

我還要指出的是，我們 23 年的現金支出約為 165 億美元。由於罷工，這一數字低於前一年。我們的 24 年計畫實際上只考慮支出 50% 左右，稱之為罷工儲蓄。這是我們今年推動自由現金流健康成長的能力的關鍵因素。所以這是我們期待執行的事情。

Yes. So in closing, we're really proud of what we accomplished in 2023. And as we look ahead to 2024 and beyond, we're focused on disciplined execution. And in doing so, positioning the company to return to significant total company's earnings growth this year and Paramount+ domestic profitability next, generating more value for our shareholders. With that, thank you for joining us. Be well, and we'll talk to you soon.

是的。最後，我們對 2023 年所取得的成就感到非常自豪。展望 2024 年及以後，我們專注於嚴格執行。透過這樣做，公司將在今年恢復顯著的公司總獲利成長，並在明年恢復派拉蒙+國內獲利能力，為我們的股東創造更多價值。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。