AMC Saved From Complete Destruction?
AMC Networks' fourth-quarter earnings were surprisingly above expectations.
AMC Networks is known for quality television series as the home of shows like Breaking Bad, Mad Men, and The Walking Dead. Despite this, the company had seen some recent turmoil, with a change in leadership personnel and down quarterly numbers signaling red flags for some. According to an article from Variety, AMC may have recovered somewhat from a shaky previous quarter and is showing signs of life.
The company recently announced its fourth-quarter earnings for 2022. The company has seen an increase of 700,000 paid streaming subscribers, ending 2022 with 11.8 million streaming subscribers across its streaming services and up from the 11.1 million subs it had reported at the end of Q3. Despite recent company changes, those streaming on the company’s platforms remained loyal.
AMC Network had previously stated that the company was well on its way to reaching its goal of hitting 20-25 million streamers by the year 2025 and expects to reach the midpoint of those numbers by the end of the year. 2025 AMC Networks stock was up 7% from the previous day’s numbers on Friday after the announcement. This increase in streamers and stock could signify that constituents have confidence in the company moving forward.
According to AMC Networks’ previously given guidance, the company anticipates getting halfway to its larger goal of having 20-25 million streaming subs in 2025 by the end of this year.
This comes after a number of recent restructuring and financial moves for AMC Networks. One of the biggest changes came when Kristin Dolan was announced as the new CEO earlier this week. She is the wife of James Dolan, the owner of AMC Networks. This comes after former CFO Christina Spade stepped down from a brief tenure as AMC Networks’ CEO in November which prompted James Dolan to announce the company would be undergoing significant layoffs and leadership restructuring.
AMC Networks was initially founded in 1980 as Rainbow Media Services, and at the time was a joining of four cable television companies: Cablevision, Comcast, Cox Communications, and Daniels & Associate, before being taken over by Cablevision solely in the mid-80s. It wasn’t until 2011 when Rainbow Media announced that it would continue forward as the publically traded company AMC Networks
AMC Networks has a number of assets that it is involved in providing viewers. It is the owner of a number of Television channels, including AMC, IFC, Sundance TV, We TV, BBC America, Voom HD Networks. It has also ventured into offering streaming services led by Acorn TV, but also including the streaming platforms Allblk, AMC+, HIDIVE, IFC Films Unlimited, Shudder, Sundance Now, and WE tv+. O
Not all of the report from 2022’s Q4 was positive: AMC Networks saw a drop in ad sales by 12%. This could be in direct correlation with the ending of the zombie survival television series The Walking Dead, one of AMC’s most popular and long-running brands. The brand has spawned a number of spinoff series including Fear the Walking Dead, The Walking Dead: World Beyond, the anthology series Tales of the Walking Dead, and three new series set to premiere in 2023 and 2024.
For AMC Networks, the end of one of its premiere titles means space for another, and they are hoping that the upcoming debut of the first show in AMC’s next big TV universe, Interview with the Vampire, will be able to garner some attention for the network. The series is a gothic horror based on the Anne Rice novel of the same name about a vampire retelling his epic tale to a journalist.
