The third quarter earnings reports from major Hollywood studios reveal a clear trend: streaming income is rising while theatrical revenue continues to decline. Lionsgate, Paramount Global, Sony Group Corporation, and Warner Bros. Discovery all presented figures that weren’t too surprising for anyone in the movie business. The impact of last year’s labor strikes was felt, particularly in cinemas, where box office revenues remained below expectations.

Lionsgate faced a tough quarter, with CEO Jon Feltheimer acknowledging a disappointing performance for their movie division, particularly with the underwhelming results of “Borderlands,” which grossed only USD $33 million worldwide against a USD $100 million budget. The studio’s operating loss was USD $88.6 million on revenue of USD $948.6 million, though its motion picture group managed a small USD $2.6 million profit – significantly lower than last year’s USD $67.5 million.

Paramount Global, currently undergoing an acquisition by Skydance Media, reported a 6% decline in total revenue to USD $6.73 billion, with streaming up by 10% to USD $1.86 billion, offsetting some of the ongoing decline in its linear television and theatrical divisions. To add a little perspective, linear accounted for 80.1% of Paramount’s revenues during the quarter, whereas theatrical, which was down 34%, only made up 1.6% of revenue.

At Sony, its Pictures Division saw revenues drop 14% to USD $2.38 billion, with theatrical revenue remaining relatively stable at $455 million for the quarter ending 30 September. Warner Bros. Discovery faced challenges as well, with CEO David Zaslav addressing the company’s efforts to adapt amid “generational disruption.” Although Warner Bros.’ theatrical revenue dropped 40%, partly due to a tough comparison with the success of last year’s “Barbie,” its streaming platform, Max, delivered an 8% revenue increase, adding 7.2 million subscribers. The bottom line, no pun intended, is that the studios’ collective earnings reports underline the central issue: while streaming is increasingly profitable, it has yet to compensate fully for the declines in traditional television earnings and could be faulted for cannibalizing theatrical box office.