Paramount Global (PARA): PESTLE Analysis [Nov-2025 Updated]

You're looking for a clear map of the risks and opportunities facing Paramount Global right now, and honestly, the landscape is complex. As a twenty-year analyst, I can tell you the six PESTLE building blocks show a company in a high-stakes transition. The near-term is defintely about managing regulatory scrutiny and the economic pressure of the streaming transition, but the upside is clear: Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) is on track for domestic profitability this year, a critical inflection point.

Political Factors: Merger Scrutiny and Global Trade

The biggest political risk is the increased US government scrutiny of major media mergers and acquisitions. Any potential deal, such as the proposed Skydance transaction, faces intense regulatory review, which can drag out timelines and impose costly conditions. This uncertainty alone slows strategic planning. Also, global trade tensions directly impact your ability to license and distribute content; foreign government censorship rules can affect what you broadcast in key, high-growth markets.

• Manage merger uncertainty with a clear Plan B.

Here's the quick math: Delays in a major transaction-like the one valued near $8 billion-can stall the capital infusion needed to aggressively compete with market leaders. What this estimate hides is the internal distraction cost, which is substantial.

Economic Factors: Debt and the Profitability Pivot

Paramount Global is navigating a high-interest rate environment while carrying a significant debt load, reported at approximately $15.51 Billion as of mid-2025. High rates make servicing this debt more expensive. Volatility in the US advertising market directly impacts linear television revenue, which is still a major cash cow. The good news is the pivot is working: the company is on track to achieve domestic streaming profitability for Paramount+ in 2025.

• Debt reduction must be a top priority.

The company has implemented over $800 million in annual run-rate non-content expense savings, which is a massive step toward mitigating the massive capital expenditure required for exclusive streaming content.

Sociological Factors: The Cord-Cutting Reality

The rapid acceleration of 'cord-cutting'-consumers dropping traditional cable-is a structural headwind. Younger demographics are shifting to on-demand viewing, pressuring broadcast schedules, especially for non-sports content. Despite this, the Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) segment is strong, with Paramount+ reaching 79 Million global subscribers in Q1 2025. The challenge is 'subscription fatigue,' which leads to high churn rates if content isn't compelling enough.

• Content quality is the only defense against churn.

The strong demand for diverse, localized, and non-English language original content globally is a clear opportunity, but it requires significant, targeted investment to capture international market share.

Technological Factors: AI and Platform Unification

The need for advanced Artificial Intelligence (AI) is no longer optional; it is required to optimize content recommendation, personalize the user experience, and, crucially, to optimize production budgets. The ongoing integration and unification of the Paramount+ and Showtime streaming platforms is a major technological undertaking aimed at efficiency. The rapid adoption of FAST channels (Free Ad-supported Streaming Television) also requires a robust ad-tech infrastructure to monetize effectively.

• AI must drive both recommendations and cost control.

The competition is fierce on video quality standards like 4K and High Dynamic Range (HDR) delivery, meaning the back-end infrastructure requires constant, expensive upgrades.

Legal Factors: Post-Strike Contracts and Data Privacy

The legal landscape is complex, particularly concerning intellectual property (IP) rights protection for major franchises like Star Trek and Mission: Impossible across global markets. The new post-strike Writers Guild of America (WGA) and SAG-AFTRA contracts have introduced continued legal implications regarding AI usage in content creation, which is a new cost and compliance layer. Furthermore, compliance with evolving international data privacy regulations, such as the EU's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), is non-negotiable and resource-intensive.

• AI legal compliance is the new content risk.

There is also an anti-trust risk related to exclusive sports broadcasting rights, which are a key driver for Paramount+ subscriber growth.

Environmental Factors: ESG and Production Footprint

Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) reporting is moving from a nice-to-have to a core investor mandate. Growing investor and public pressure requires detailed, measurable ESG reporting, especially on climate-related risks. The company faces a need to reduce the carbon footprint of its large-scale film and television production operations, which involves complex logistics and supply chain changes. Shareholder activism is demanding transparency and action on these fronts.

• Measure and reduce the studio carbon footprint now.

Compliance with stricter waste and energy regulations at studio facilities will increase operating expenses, but it is necessary to maintain a credible ESG profile with institutional investors.

Paramount Global (PARA) - PESTLE Analysis: Political factors

You're looking at Paramount Global (PARA) in a tough regulatory environment, and honestly, the political factors are a major overhang right now. The core issue is that Washington is taking a much harder look at media consolidation, and global markets are getting trickier with content rules. This isn't just noise; it's a real cost and a brake on growth, especially with the ongoing M&A speculation around the company.

Increased US government scrutiny of major media mergers and acquisitions.

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) have signaled a much more aggressive stance on antitrust enforcement, particularly in the media and tech sectors. This scrutiny directly impacts Paramount Global, which has been the subject of significant M&A speculation throughout 2024 and into 2025. Any potential buyer, or even the company itself considering a major asset sale, now faces a prolonged and highly uncertain regulatory review.

For example, the current political climate means that even a vertical integration deal-say, a tech giant buying Paramount Global-would likely face intense scrutiny over market power in both content creation and distribution. This risk defintely lowers the potential premium for a sale and extends the deal timeline, which can hurt shareholder value in the short term.

Here's the quick map of the M&A regulatory risk:

• DOJ/FTC Stance: High skepticism toward deals that reduce competition in streaming or broadcast.
• Timeline Risk: M&A approval processes are now routinely taking 18 to 24 months, up from a historical average of 12 to 18 months.
• Potential Remedy: Regulators are more likely to demand significant asset divestitures or behavioral remedies.

Global trade tensions impacting international content licensing and distribution rights.

Global trade tensions, particularly between the US and China, but also with other regions, are complicating Paramount Global's international content licensing business. Content licensing is a vital revenue stream, especially for its large library of films and television shows. When trade relations sour, content is often one of the first non-essential imports to face friction, either through unofficial quotas or bureaucratic delays.

The political climate makes long-term, high-value licensing deals in major non-Western markets less secure. This forces Paramount Global to shift more of its international strategy toward its owned-and-operated streaming service, Paramount+, which is a higher-cost, higher-risk path than simple licensing. This is a direct political risk translating into a higher capital expenditure requirement for international growth.

Foreign government censorship rules affecting content broadcast in key markets.

Censorship and content regulation in key international markets represent a non-financial, but strategically significant, political risk. Governments in regions like the Middle East, parts of Asia, and even some European countries are increasingly imposing strict local content rules, morality standards, or political restrictions on streamed and broadcast media.

This forces Paramount Global to either self-censor or create entirely different content versions for specific territories, which adds production complexity and cost. Sometimes, they have to pull content entirely. For instance, a major studio may have to remove LGBTQ+ themes or politically sensitive storylines to comply with local laws in a market that contributes hundreds of millions in annual revenue. This content-by-content compliance is expensive, but the alternative is losing access to a market entirely.

The compliance burden is substantial:

Potential for new US federal legislation on digital platform content moderation.

The ongoing debate in the US Congress over reforming Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, or introducing new legislation on digital platform content moderation, poses a direct threat to Paramount Global's streaming business, Paramount+. While the focus has been on social media giants, any broad legislation could ensnare major streaming platforms that host user-generated content (even if limited) or that are deemed to have editorial control over a vast library of public-facing content.

New laws could impose significant new legal liabilities on the company for content hosted on its platform, forcing a substantial increase in content moderation staffing and technology. This is a direct, unbudgeted operating expense risk. For a streaming service like Paramount+ that is still scaling, even a small increase in regulatory compliance costs can significantly delay its path to profitability.

The key action here is lobbying: Finance needs to model a scenario where content moderation costs increase by 10% to 15% of the current digital operating expense base due to new federal mandates.

Paramount Global (PARA) - PESTLE Analysis: Economic factors

High interest rates increasing the cost of servicing Paramount Global's substantial debt load.

You can't talk about Paramount Global's economics without starting with its balance sheet. The persistent high-interest-rate environment in the US is a headwind that directly hits the bottom line, making the company's substantial debt load more expensive to manage.

As of June 2025, Paramount Global carried approximately $15.51 billion in total debt. Here's the quick math: in the first quarter of 2025 alone, the company reported an Interest Expense on Debt of $217 million. That's cash that must go to creditors instead of funding the next big streaming hit or reducing the Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) losses.

This cost of capital (the effective interest rate on its debt) is a major constraint on strategic flexibility, especially when competitors with stronger balance sheets can invest more freely. It's a huge anchor in an aggressive market.

• Total Debt (June 2025): Approximately $15.51 billion.
• Q1 2025 Interest Expense: $217 million, a significant quarterly cash outflow.
• High rates limit refinancing options, keeping borrowing costs elevated.

Volatility in the US advertising market directly impacting linear television revenue.

The US advertising market is defintely a mixed bag, showing significant volatility, which disproportionately impacts Paramount Global's legacy linear television (TV Media) segment. While digital and connected TV (CTV) advertising is growing, the traditional TV ad market remains soft.

In the second quarter of 2025, Paramount Global's TV Media advertising revenue fell 6% year-over-year, dropping to $1.87 billion. This decline is driven by advertisers shifting budgets to more measurable digital platforms and the general softness in the scatter market (ads bought closer to air date). Even the Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) segment's advertising revenue, which includes Paramount+ and Pluto TV, saw a 4% decline to $494 million in Q2 2025, showing that even the streaming ad business isn't immune to market pressure.

Sustained pressure on legacy cable and satellite carriage fees due to cord-cutting.

Cord-cutting-the mass exodus of subscribers from traditional cable and satellite television-continues to be a structural problem for the company's legacy revenue stream. This trend puts sustained pressure on the affiliate and subscription fees Paramount Global collects from cable providers for carrying its networks like Nickelodeon and Comedy Central.

For the first quarter of 2025, the TV Media segment reported a 9% decrease in affiliate and subscription revenue. This is a direct measure of the economic damage caused by consumers opting for cheaper, more flexible streaming bundles. The decline in this high-margin revenue source forces the company to rely more heavily on its DTC segment, which is still chasing profitability.

Massive capital expenditure required to produce competitive, exclusive streaming content.

The streaming wars are an arms race, and content is the ammunition. To compete with giants like Netflix and Walt Disney Company, Paramount Global must maintain a massive capital expenditure (CapEx) on content, which strains its operating cash flow.

In 2024, Paramount Global's total content spending was projected to be around $15.1 billion, placing it among the top global content spenders. While this investment is driving growth-DTC revenue rose 17% year-over-year in Q3 2025-it has yet to translate into sustained profitability. The DTC segment still reported an operating loss of around $400 million in Q3 2025.

The new leadership under Paramount Skydance Corporation is signaling a doubling down on this strategy, with plans to boost content spend by about $1.5 billion in 2026. This shows the economic reality: you must spend billions to be a player, and that spend is currently outpacing the revenue generated from streaming subscriptions and ads.

Paramount Global (PARA) - PESTLE Analysis: Social factors

Rapid acceleration of 'cord-cutting' among younger, key demographic audiences.

The long-term shift away from traditional cable television is now a rapid, structural decline that directly pressures Paramount Global's legacy TV Media segment. Younger consumers-the key demographic for future revenue-are simply not subscribing to cable. Nearly 70% of adults aged 18-34 who use Over-The-Top (OTT) streaming services have already canceled traditional cable, and the average age of a first-time cord-cutter in the US is just 35 years old.

This demographic change hits the core broadcast business hard. In the third quarter of 2025, Paramount Global's TV Media revenue, which includes CBS and its cable networks, fell by 12% year-over-year. Specifically, TV advertising revenue dropped to $1.47 billion, a 12% decline, with affiliate and subscription revenue also falling 7% to $1.74 billion. The viewing data is stark: Broadcast TV's share of overall viewing hit a record-low of 18.5% in June 2025, while streaming captured 46%. That's a massive, permanent change in viewing habits.

Growing consumer 'subscription fatigue' leading to high churn rates for streaming services.

While streaming is the future, it faces its own social headwind: subscription fatigue. Consumers are overwhelmed by the sheer number of services and the rising cost, so they're rationalizing their spending. The average American household reduced its number of active paid subscriptions from 4.1 services in 2024 to just 2.8 in 2025. The average monthly churn rate for streaming services is now a high 5.5% in Q1 2025, and annual churn for entertainment services is around 37%.

The primary reason for cancellation is cost, cited by 45% of users. Paramount Plus has managed to buck the trend slightly, reporting an improved churn rate (down 130 basis points year-over-year) in Q1 2025, but the general market environment means every subscriber is a retention battle.

Here's the quick math on the subscription environment:

Strong demand for diverse, localized, and non-English language original content globally.

Global expansion is Paramount Global's lifeline, but success depends entirely on local relevance. The social demand for non-English content is significant: 24% of people globally stream international content, with countries like Brazil (46%) and the Philippines (35%) showing the highest preference.

Paramount Global is responding by committing to a globally diverse slate. The company plans to have 150 original international programs running by the end of 2025, produced in more than 20 countries. This strategy is clearly working to drive engagement, as global viewing hours across Paramount Plus and Pluto TV increased a robust 31% year-over-year in Q1 2025. A great example is the crime series MobLand, which achieved the biggest global series premiere ever on Paramount Plus in Q1 2025. You have to go where the audience is, and that's a global content strategy.

Shift in consumption from live sports to on-demand viewing, pressuring broadcast schedules.

Live sports remains the last bastion of linear TV, but even this is fragmenting. The shift isn't just about where people watch, but how they watch. The number of US viewers streaming sports monthly is projected to exceed 90 million by 2025. Critically, 40% of US sports viewers now watch games exclusively via streaming services, and these Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) sports subscribers are the top spenders, averaging $111 per month on all streaming services.

For Paramount Global, this creates a dual-platform challenge. While the NFL on CBS drove a 13% increase in CBS affiliates' viewing in October 2025, the company must also ensure its live sports rights are maximized on Paramount Plus. The NFL's AFC Championship Game averaged 57.4 million viewers in Q1 2025, demonstrating the immense, irreplaceable value of live sports, but the pressure on non-sports broadcast content is immense, forcing network schedules to rely even more heavily on tentpole events.

• Streamers now command nearly 40% of total TV usage.
• DTC sports subscribers spend an average of $111 monthly on streaming.
• Paramount+ must balance linear and streaming rights to capture the full value.

Paramount Global (PARA) - PESTLE Analysis: Technological factors

Requirement for advanced Artificial Intelligence (AI) to optimize content recommendation and production budgets

The new leadership at Paramount Global, following the merger with Skydance Media in 2025, has made a clear commitment to becoming a 'technology-media hybrid company,' with Artificial Intelligence (AI) as a core pillar. The focus is two-fold: improving subscriber engagement and driving significant cost efficiencies in content creation. We expect to see the company scale the use of a cloud-based animation studio model-a technology successfully used by Skydance-across all production workflows to reduce costs.

On the consumer-facing side, the company is actively developing AI tools to power personalization and content recommendations on Paramount+. This is a direct response to the need to reduce subscriber churn (cancellation rate) by ensuring viewers spend more time on the platform. Honesty, if your recommendation engine is weak, you're just handing subscribers to a competitor. The company's overall goal for enterprise-wide efficiency was increased from a $2 billion to at least a $3 billion run-rate target for 2026, with technology upgrades being a key driver of this financial improvement.

Ongoing need to integrate and unify the Paramount+ and Showtime streaming platforms for efficiency

The operational and technological integration of the premium cable network Showtime into the flagship streaming service Paramount+ is largely complete, a crucial step in simplifying the direct-to-consumer (DTC) business. The standalone Showtime streaming app was officially discontinued in April 2024. The premium tier of the combined streaming service, initially branded as Paramount+ With Showtime, was rebranded again in June 2025 to the simpler Paramount+ Premium. The pricing for this premium, ad-free tier remains at $12.99 per month or $119.99 per year.

This unification is more than just a name change; it's about a unified technology stack-a single, shared back-end infrastructure-that spans Paramount+, Pluto TV, and BET+. This technical consolidation is designed to unlock operational efficiencies, cut duplicated functions, and reduce content costs by removing redundant programming, which has already contributed to a decrease in content costs.

Competition on video quality standards like 4K and High Dynamic Range (HDR) delivery

The market for premium streaming is locked in a competitive battle over video quality, specifically 4K (Ultra High Definition) and High Dynamic Range (HDR) standards. While Paramount Global is focused on content and efficiency, delivering a consistent, high-end viewing experience is a non-negotiable technological requirement for the Paramount+ Premium tier to justify its price point against competitors like Netflix and Max. For context, a key competitor's partner service, JioCinema Premium in India, already offers support for up to 4K video quality.

The ongoing challenge is the high cost of producing and distributing content in these formats, plus the need for a robust delivery network (Content Delivery Network or CDN) to handle the massive file sizes without buffering. If the platform doesn't offer a wide catalog of 4K/HDR content, especially for new releases and live events like the UFC (which is being included in Paramount+ from 2026), the service risks being seen as technologically inferior, which raises churn risk. YouTube TV, for instance, charges an extra $20 per month for its 4K add-on, illustrating the premium nature of this technology.

Rapid adoption of FAST channels (Free Ad-supported Streaming Television) requiring strong ad-tech infrastructure

The growth of FAST channels, led by Paramount Global's Pluto TV, is a major technological opportunity, but it is entirely dependent on its advertising technology (ad-tech). The number of global FAST channels grew nearly 14% from Q1 2025, showing the rapid market shift. Pluto TV is a leader in this space, and the company is continuously expanding its offerings, such as the new FAST channel partnership with Tony Robbins announced in February 2025.

To fully monetize this growth, the ad-tech infrastructure needs a major upgrade. The new CEO has explicitly called for an improvement in advertising technology to provide marketers with better audience data and targeting capabilities. This is defintely a critical area for investment because, in Q3 2025, direct-to-consumer (DTC) revenue from non-Paramount+ sources, primarily Pluto TV, underperformed the growth of Paramount+ revenue. The core problem? Lower ad sell out rates. Better ad-tech is the clear action needed to fix that revenue gap.

• Upgrade ad-tech for better audience targeting and data.
• Increase ad sell out rates on Pluto TV to match subscriber growth.
• Integrate Pluto TV's ad platform with the new unified technology stack.

Paramount Global (PARA) - PESTLE Analysis: Legal factors

Complex Global Intellectual Property Protection

You know that content is Paramount Global's core asset, but protecting it globally is a constant, expensive legal battle. The challenge has escalated in 2025 because digital piracy is no longer just torrents; it's a sophisticated, global operation fueled by AI tools and consumer subscription fatigue. Honesty, the industry is struggling to keep up.

The financial impact is staggering. Online video piracy alone is estimated to cost the media and entertainment sector $75 billion in lost revenue worldwide in 2025, a figure growing at an alarming 11% annually. For major franchises like Star Trek and Mission: Impossible, this means Paramount Global must deploy significant capital to enforce trademark and copyright protections across dozens of jurisdictions, from takedown notices to costly international litigation. This isn't just a legal risk; it's a direct hit to your bottom line, requiring a defintely proactive legal defense budget.

Continued Legal Implications from Post-Strike AI Contracts

The 2023 strikes by the Writers Guild of America (WGA) and SAG-AFTRA (Screen Actors Guild - American Federation of Television and Radio Artists) didn't just end with higher pay; they fundamentally reshaped the legal landscape for Artificial Intelligence (AI) use in production. This is a permanent cost increase and a new legal risk area for Paramount Global's studio operations.

The new contracts mandate strict consent and compensation rules for using digital replicas (voice, likeness, body) of performers. For instance, the 2025 SAG-AFTRA Interactive Media Agreement requires explicit, informed consent for the use of a performer's digital replica in new material. The WGA contract is clearer on the writer side, designating AI purely as a tool-it cannot receive literary credit, and writers cannot be forced to use it.

Here's the quick math on the legal exposure: The WGA contract explicitly reserves the union's right to assert that using existing literary materials (scripts, past shows) to train Generative AI (GAI) systems violates the agreement or applicable law. This means a future class-action lawsuit over AI training data is still a major, unresolved legal risk that could result in massive retroactive compensation claims.

• WGA Risk: Unresolved legal right to challenge GAI training on past content.
• SAG-AFTRA Cost: Mandatory consent and compensation for every specific use of a digital replica.

Compliance with Evolving International Data Privacy Regulations

Paramount Global's global streaming operations, Paramount+ and Pluto TV, make it a prime target for international data privacy enforcement. You are dealing with a patchwork of regulations, most notably the EU's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA).

The penalties are severe and are only getting higher. GDPR fines can reach up to €20 million or 4% of global revenue, whichever is greater. The average GDPR fine in 2024 was already €2.8 million, a 30% increase from the previous year. In the U.S., the CCPA's intentional violation fines (especially concerning minors) were adjusted for 2025 to a maximum of $7,988 per violation.

What this estimate hides is the current litigation risk. Paramount Global was already hit with a class action complaint in late 2024 alleging a violation of the Video Privacy Protection Act (VPPA) for allegedly disclosing subscriber viewing data via tracking tools to third parties like Facebook and TikTok without consent. This specific legal challenge highlights the immediate need to audit data sharing practices, especially concerning streaming user data.

Anti-Trust Risk Related to Exclusive Sports Broadcasting Rights and Market Dominance

The most significant near-term legal risk for Paramount Global in late 2025 is the potential for a major merger, particularly the proposed acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery via Skydance Media. Any major consolidation will face rigorous antitrust scrutiny from the Department of Justice (DOJ).

A combined entity would immediately raise red flags due to market concentration. The merger would unite two major Hollywood studios, two major streaming platforms (Paramount+ and Max), and two major news operations (CBS and CNN). Comscore estimates that the combined company would control approximately 32% of the U.S. and Canadian box office based on 2025 revenue.

Crucially, the combination of sports broadcasting rights-CBS (Paramount) and TNT (Warner Bros. Discovery)-creates an immediate antitrust concern. This concentration of exclusive rights could be argued to harm competition and potentially raise consumer prices for live sports content, a major driver of streaming subscriptions. The DOJ is already highly focused on antitrust issues in sports broadcasting, as seen in the ongoing NFL Sunday Ticket litigation.

Paramount Global (PARA) - PESTLE Analysis: Environmental factors

Growing investor and public pressure for detailed, measurable Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) reporting.

You are seeing a massive shift in how investors view media companies, and it's no longer just about quarterly earnings. ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) performance is now a core financial risk, not a side project. Paramount Global is responding by aligning its disclosures with major international frameworks, which is defintely a necessary move.

The company's latest 2023-2024 ESG Report is guided by the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB). More critically, they adhere to the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) recommendations, which is what the big asset managers like BlackRock are demanding.

New regulations are forcing the issue, too. The upcoming U.S. Climate-Related Financial Risk Act will soon require biennial climate risk management reports, prepared in accordance with TCFD. This means the voluntary disclosures of today are quickly becoming the mandatory compliance of tomorrow. You cannot afford to lag here.

Need to reduce the carbon footprint of large-scale film and television production operations.

The sheer scale of a global production studio is an environmental challenge. Think about the fuel for generators, the logistics of set construction, and the travel for talent and crew. Paramount Global's total carbon emissions in 2023 were approximately 2,138,200,000 kg CO2e. That's a huge number, and the majority of it-around 1,996,595,000 kg CO2e-falls under Scope 3 (value chain emissions). This is where the production impact lives, specifically in Purchased Goods and Services, which accounts for 75% of their Scope 3 footprint.

To tackle this, the company is formalizing sustainable practices using industry standards like the Green Production Guide (GPG) in the U.S. and the albert certification in the U.K. These tools mandate tracking and reduction plans for energy, waste, and travel on set. It's about making the entire supply chain accountable.

Increased shareholder activism demanding transparency on climate-related risks.

Shareholders are not just asking for a report; they are demanding actionable data on climate-related financial risks. The Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association (PLSA), a major U.K. investor body, is one example, urging companies to properly disclose their climate impact and show evidence of taking TCFD seriously. This pressure is why Paramount Global has set concrete, measurable targets, moving beyond vague commitments.

Here's the quick math on their core emissions reduction targets:

Meeting the Lot's 50% reduction goal by 2028 is nearly done, which adds credibility to their broader, long-term commitment. These specific, verifiable goals are the only language institutional investors trust.

Compliance with stricter waste and energy regulations at studio facilities.

Studio facilities, especially the historic ones like the Paramount Pictures Lot in Los Angeles, face intense local and state regulations on waste and energy. The focus is on diverting waste from landfills and increasing renewable energy use.

The company is making progress on waste diversion, which is a key regulatory metric:

• Waste Diversion: In 2021, 51% of waste from Paramount Television Studios and Motion Picture Group productions was successfully diverted from landfill.
• Renewable Energy: Global electricity consumption from renewable sources reached 15.4% in 2021, up from 13.6% in 2020.
• Long-Term Energy Goal: The company has committed to 100% renewable electricity by 2050.

The immediate challenge is scaling that waste diversion rate past the 50% mark and accelerating the renewable energy adoption rate to meet the long-term target without relying solely on offsets. If onboarding sustainable production practices takes 14+ days, compliance risk rises.