Warner Bros. Discovery is still finding its sea legs in the face of challenging media market tides. 

The conglomerate ended this financial quarter with total revenue down by 4% year-on-year (in constant currency) to US$10.36 billion, and a slight decline in its worldwide streaming subscriber base. It’s short nearly two million subs compared to Q1, putting the total tally at 95.8 million. 

This can partly be attributed to the US launch of super-streamer Max in May, when some Discovery+ accounts in the region were canceled. The costs of launching and marketing Max also factored into a US$3-million direct-to-consumer loss for this quarter, which is a reversal of the profit it posted in Q1. 

The company expects to see some subscriber churn on Discovery+, but its dedicated users are still engaged with the platform. WBD plans to keep the streamer running as a separate product from Max, said chief financial officer Gunnar Wiedenfels in today’s earnings call. “[We’re] optimistic that our strategy to keep offering these two products was the right one for customers and for our business,” he said. 

Following up a series of cost-cutting measures (including axeing streaming content and restructuring teams) that have been implemented since Warner Bros. and Discovery merged in early 2022, WBD managed to repay US$1.6 billion of debt during Q2.

The company posted US$2.5 billion in studio revenue this quarter, which is 24% less than the same period last year. This decline was propelled by stronger theatrical performance in 2022, largely driven by the successful run of The Batman. By contrast, this year’s DC superhero tentpole The Flash (pictured), which premiered in June, bombed at the box office. To date, the pic has only earned US$268 million globally, while The Batman grossed more than US$766 million. 

But what’s certainly poised to lift the segment next quarter is the company’s latest feature Barbie, which debuted with a record-breaking bang on July 21 and is already in line for the billion-dollar club. Although this revenue is not factored into Q2, the film’s marketing costs contributed to the studio’s revenue decline.