Warner Home Video Ups Q4 Movie Revenue

8 Feb, 2017 By: Erik Gruenwedel

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Warner Home Video Feb. 8 reported a 7.3% increase in fourth-quarter (ended Dec. 31, 2016) retail sales (including digital) of theatrical product to $571 million, compared with revenue of $532 million in the previous-year period.

Revenue from sales of TV shows fell 16.5% to $157 million, from $188 million a year ago.

For the year, movie retail revenue topped $1.48 billion, down 13.8% from revenue of $1.71 billion in the previous-year period. TV product revenue dropped less 12% to $470 million, from $529 million.

Top-selling titles included Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice with more than $65 million in revenue on more than 3 million combined DVD/Blu-ray Disc units sold, according to The-Numbers.com. The title was the No. 5 best-selling disc in 2016. Creed generated $21 million from 1.1 million discs.

Overall, Warner Bros. saw quarterly adjusted operating income increase 57% to $574 million, from $366 million, while revenue increased 17% to $3.9 billion, from $3.3 billion.

The studio attributed the increases to higher theatrical revenue, which benefited from the releases of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and The Accountant, and higher television revenue, primarily due to increased licensing revenue and increased production.

Time Warner CFO Howard Averill attributed lower home entertainment revenue for year primarily to fewer releases and a softer home video release schedule. He said revenue did grow starting in the second half of 2016 as franchise titles started to move into the home entertainment window, including electronic sellthrough. 

"Digital now represents about half of our home entertainment profits, so we're encouraged as we head into 2017, when we expect to grow both home entertainment revenue and profit," Averill said on the fiscal call. 

 

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