$4 Million Charge, Streaming Sales

AMC Global Media (recently rebranded from AMC Networks) reported its first-quarter 2026 earnings Friday, showing streaming revenue rose even as overall paid subscribers ticked down.

Per AMC, streaming subscribers were down 1% year-over-year to 10.1 million during the January-March quarter. AMC also reports that ad-support AMC+ hard-bundle agreements were up 200% year over year to 1.8 million, which it counts as in addition to its streaming subscriber total.

Currently, AMC Networks’ streaming portfolio consists of AMC+, Acorn TV, Shudder, Sundance Now, ALLBLK, HIDIVE and the newly launched All Reality. AMC’s linear networks include AMC, BBC AMERICA (which includes U.S. distribution and sales for BBC News), IFC, SundanceTV and We TV. The company also owns film distribution labels Independent Film Company and RLJE Films (which it acquired outright in Q4), and in-house studio AMC Studios.

Overall streaming sales increased 11% to $174 million, largely attributable to a recent price hike across AMC’s platforms.

U.S. ad sales were down 5% to $113 million. Affiliate revenues dropped 16% to $131 million. Content licensing sales fell 2% to $53 million.

Turning to AMC’s international business, overall sales were down 3% at $72 million. Subscription revenue was up 4% at $46 million (adjusting down to a 5% decrease when accounting for foreign currency translation) and ad sales rose 3% to $23 million (also shifting to a dip of 5% without favorable impact from exchange rates).

During the quarter, AMC took a $4 million restructuring charge, with approximately $3 million of that total tied to the company’s voluntary buyout program for U.S. employees, and approximately $2 million related to a restructuring plan in its International segment, which for the quarter consisted primarily of office closures in Latin America.

Wall Street forecast earnings per share (EPS) of 21 cents on $543 million in revenue, according to analyst consensus data provided by LSEG. AMC Global Media reported EPS of 8 cents (which shifts to a loss of 43 cents per share without favorable adjustments for the one-time charges) on $542 million in revenue.

“AMC Global Media delivered another quarter of double-digit streaming revenue growth and robust free cash flow generation,” Kristin Dolan said in a letter to shareholders. “We are tracking to plan across all key metrics and are pleased to reiterate our financial outlook for the year. During this changing time in media, we continue to follow our own differentiated playbook as a studio-driven owner of world-class IP, fully distributed across a wide range of owned and partner platforms.”