Sony Pictures Entertainment saw profit spike in fiscal Q3 by 57% to $281 million, thanks largely to a thriving global content licensing business.
The Sony Group Corp. unit, which makes up Sony’s film and television production operations, experienced a 5% increase in revenue from Oct. 1 through Dec. 31, to $2.47 billion, despite lagging ticket sales at the global box office. Sony's earnings release can be found here.
Sony is on the forefront of the so-called “arms dealer” business strategy.
While studios including The Walt Disney Co., Warner Bros. Discovery, Paramount and NBCUniversal have opted to invest billions of dollars in the creation of their own direct-to-consumer streaming services, Sony has stuck fast to licensing its films and shows to other linear and digital platforms, taking advantage of external cable networks, satellite and streaming services to broadcast its content.
One example: Sony has a lucrative licensing arrangement with Netflix to stream its theatrical releases during the pay-one period, giving Netflix the first seat at the table for Sony films.
Just last October, Sony’s Jennifer Lawrence-led rom-com No Hard Feelings arrived on the streamer after its theatrical release, charting No. 3 among Netflix’s most popular English films in its second week on the rankings, with 22.7 million hours viewed.
Sony’s Oscar-nominated, $691 million grossing super-hero flick Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse charted similarly well in October, debuting at No. 4 on Netflix’s weekly rankings with 20.1 million viewing hours.
Also making for higher numbers was an increase in revenue for Sony’s acquired anime-focused streaming service, CrunchyRoll, which grew to reach more than 13 million paid subscribers as of the end of December, according to Sony’s financial results.
Sony's corporate group said CrunchyRoll has expanded its subscriber base at an average pace of 23% a year since its acquisition from AT&T in 2021, and on its earnings call, Sony stressed the importance of maintaining that expansion.
