Key Financial Data
- Q2 Total revenue: $547.5 million (-8.8% year-over)
- Operating income: $15.9 million (-75.4%)
- Adjusted operating income: $46.1 million (-57.9%)
- Domestic revenue: $470.4 million (-10.7%)
- Domestic subscription revenue: $305.9 million (-4.5%)
- Streaming revenue: $180 million (+6%)
- Affiliate revenue: $126 million (-17%)
- Domestic advertising revenue: $108.8 million (-11.2%)
- Domestic content licensing and other revenue: $55.7 million (-33.7%)
- International revenue: $78.6 million (+4.1%)
- International subscription revenue: $46.6 million (-1.0%)
- International advertising revenue: $29.4 million (+13.0%)
- International adjusted operating income: $14.4 million (-2.6%)
- Read more Q2 2026 media earnings coverage | AMC Global Media Q1 coverage
AMC Global Media reported lower second-quarter revenue and profit Thursday as declines in traditional television subscriptions, advertising and content licensing outweighed continued growth from streaming.
Revenue fell 8.8 percent to $547.5 million for the quarter ended June 30, compared with $600 million a year earlier. Operating income dropped 75.4 percent to $15.9 million, while adjusted operating income declined 57.9 percent to $46.1 million.
The company reported a net loss attributable to stockholders of $21.9 million, or 51 cents per diluted share, compared with net income of $50.3 million, or 91 cents per share, in the prior-year period. On an adjusted basis, AMC Global Media lost 28 cents per share.
Domestic revenue decreased 10.7 percent to $470.4 million. Subscription revenue fell 4.5 percent to $305.9 million as a 17 percent decline in affiliate revenue offset streaming growth. Affiliate revenue totaled $126 million. Streaming revenue increased 6 percent to $180 million, driven primarily by price increases across the company’s services. Streaming accounted for more than one-third of domestic revenue, though AMC Global Media did not disclose subscriber totals.
AMC Global Media CEO Kristin Dolan said subscriber acquisition came in slightly below expectations during the first half of the year, but said the company saw sequential improvement in retention and a double-digit increase in streaming engagement during the second quarter, even with price increases.
“Geopolitical events and high-profile sports programming captured outsized consumer attention,” Dolan said on a conference call with investors. “Our streaming business is built around bringing passionate fans the content they love. This strategy creates an engaged and loyal base of subscribers with deep connections to our brands.”
Dolan said the company continues to prioritize a multi-platform distribution strategy — one built around streaming first, including free ad-supported content channels, but which also factors in AMC’s traditional cable networks, which are not going away anytime soon.
“We take a long-range view of this business and the critical role our distribution partners play across all of our platforms, streaming, linear and FAST (free, ad-supported streaming TV),” Dolan noted. “s streaming and linear continue to converge, an increasing number of viewers experience our services through hard-bundled arrangements. This combined distribution delivers additional value to the customer, strengthens our affiliate relationships, and builds revenue partnerships focused on the future.”
AMC Global Media continues to work with pay television providers to bundle included access to AMC Plus with its traditional cable networks. Philo and Chater’s Spectrum TV are two such partners; Dolan said the company has seen more than 2.3 million AMC Plus activations from those distribution arrangements alone.
Domestic advertising revenue fell 11.2 percent to $108.8 million. Chief Financial Officer Hozefa Lokhandwala said the quarter included a one-time impact from a resolved system integration problem. Excluding that issue, advertising revenue declined in the mid-single-digit range due to lower ratings and weaker marketplace pricing, partially offset by digital advertising growth.
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Content licensing and other domestic revenue fell 33.7 percent to $55.7 million because of the timing and availability of program deliveries.
International revenue rose 4.1 percent to $78.6 million. International advertising revenue increased 13 percent to $29.4 million, while subscription revenue fell 1 percent to $46.6 million.
AMC Global Media also announced a global co-exclusive licensing deal with Netflix for all seven series and 371 episodes in “The Walking Dead” universe. The agreement carries $500 million in contracted license fees over five years, with Netflix payments expected to total about $25 million in 2026 and roughly $100 million annually from 2027 through 2030.
Dolan said the deal “creates a global streaming home for this landmark franchise” and will allow the original “The Walking Dead” series to come to AMC Plus for the first time.
Lokhandwala said the company expects to recognize approximately $445 million in revenue over the life of the agreement, including $200 million to $225 million in 2026 and 2027.
AMC Global Media raised its full-year guidance to revenue of $2.4 billion to $2.45 billion, adjusted operating income of $410 million to $420 million and free cash flow of approximately $220 million. The company ended June with $464 million in cash, $1.74 billion in total debt and net debt of about $1.27 billion.
