Cinedigm Books Q4 Operating Profit In Core Streaming Business As Viewing Triples

Cinedigm, which has pivoted its former cinema equipment business to streaming, reported a few bright spots in its fiscal fourth quarter despite continued red ink.

The company, which has built a portfolio of streaming services such as CONtv and Docurama, reported total revenue of $39.3 million in the quarter ending March 31, a 27% drop from the year-ago period. The company blamed the slide on the decline of its legacy cinema equipment business. Net losses per share narrowed to 34 cents from 44 cents in the year-ago period.

The news was better in the streaming unit, where adjusted EBITDA was $700,000 in the period, a $3.5 million swing into positive territory.

The company’s portfolio of 16 streaming services collectively reached 13.2 million monthly ad-supported viewers by May 31 and 9.7 million by March 31, nearly triple the level of last year.

For the full fiscal year, including digital content licensing, overall streaming revenue climbed 31% year-over-year, with total sales billings of $24.4 million. Streaming now represents more than half of the company’s core entertainment revenue.

“We are rapidly scaling up our streaming business to capitalize on the on-going and permanent cord-cutting shift towards premium OTT entertainment,” CEO Chris McGurk said in the earnings release. “Heavy streaming adoption rates, particularly for free, ad-supported linear channels, continue to dramatically accelerate. We are uniquely well positioned to take advantage of this once-in-a-generation permanent shift in viewing habits, accelerated by the current stay-at-home environment.”

Bison Capital, a China-based investment company, bought a majority stake in Cinedigm in 2017. Last December, Cinedigm took a 29% stake in Chinese entertainment company Starrise Media.

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