Cinedigm reports fourth quarter and full year fiscal 2022 financial results

Cinedigm , a premier streaming technology and entertainment company super-serving enthusiast fan bases, today announced its audited financial results for the three and twelve-month periods ended March 31, 2022.

“We had tremendous success again this fourth fiscal quarter, growing our total revenues by 104% to $16.9 million. This was driven by record-high streaming revenues that included a 109% increase in ad-supported streaming revenues, which were also up an incredible 793% on a two-year basis,” said Chris McGurk, Chairman and CEO of Cinedigm. “Our full-year revenues of $56.1 million were up 78%, driven by a 108% increase in our streaming channel revenues, again led by ad-supported revenue growth of 147%, strongly outperforming the rest of the industry. On a two-year basis, full year streaming channel and ad-supported revenues rocketed up as well, higher by 290% and 514%, respectively. We achieved these impressive results because we aggressively entered the high growth ad-supported streaming business several years ago while many other companies continued to solely focus on the highly competitive and expensive general entertainment subscription business. Combined with the successful monetization of our legacy Cinema Digital Equipment business, this rapid revenue growth generated $7.1 million in Adjusted EBITDA for the full fiscal year. That helped eliminate all our debt, fund the bulk of the important Digital Media Rights (DMR) acquisition and generate positive net income for the full year.”

McGurk continued, “Clearly, our unique diversified streaming and content strategy is working and driving impressive results. And now, adding to this strong business momentum, we are leveraging our vastly increased scale, with a 30-channel streaming portfolio and 46,000 films and TV episodes in our library, by launching four new high-return growth initiatives that fully leverage our asset base, capabilities and industry-leading Matchpoint® technology. These initiatives are the rollout of Cineverse, which will provide consolidated access and cross promotion for all our streaming properties, the aggressive expansion of Cinedigm’s Podcast Network, already with a portfolio of 25 podcasts, the rapid launch of comprehensive in-house advertising capabilities, and the imminent rollout of Matchpoint 2.0, which will provide additional revenue opportunities via content aggregation and SaaS services. We expect all these initiatives will generate substantial new multi-million dollar annual revenue streams with minimal working capital and overhead requirements.”

Erick Opeka, Chief Strategy Officer and President, Cinedigm Networks stated, “The combination of DMR with Cinedigm’s fast-growing portfolio of streaming brands and 46,000 title library has created one of the largest overall audiences in streaming. Today, the Company entertains and delights more than 87 million viewers a month across all of our channels, generating more than 2.3 billion minutes viewed per quarter and growing. Clearly, our vision that enthusiast audiences at global scale can create massive, monetizable audiences is being proven by the rapid growth, engagement and revenue produced by our base of loyal fans.”

Opeka continued, “As we enter the long stretch of our fiscal year, we are excited to continue building on this momentum with new, branded channel launches like The Elvis Presley Channel, the launch of our new, scale streaming service called Cineverse, the rapid scaling of our podcast business, and the launch of our direct sales force to further monetize our portfolio. Cinedigm now has all of the pieces in place to become the next great streaming company – but with the added benefit of diverse, fast growing revenue streams and channels, unlike many of our competitors.”

Tony Huidor, Chief Technology & Product Officer of Cinedigm, stated, “Technology remains key to the foundation of our business as it drives our relentless goal to deliver high quality content/channel experiences at scale with industry-leading automation that drive tremendous cost efficiencies. We continue to expand our engineering expertise in India and utilize that competitive advantage to improve our Matchpoint 2.0 platform, as we work toward the launch of Cineverse and stay at the forefront of leading-edge industry innovation including AI and the anticipated metaverse.”

Key Fourth Quarter Financial Results (Quarter Ended March 31, 2022):

• Consolidated revenue was $16.9 million, up 104% over the prior year quarter, driven by organic user growth, increasing market demand for Cinedigm’s extensive connected television ad inventory, the launch of new streaming channels, as well as legacy digital cinema equipment sales;
• Ad-supported streaming channel revenue increased 109% over the prior year quarter;
• Streaming revenue growth was also driven by continued expansion of distribution from more than 19 new distribution points. Additionally, the Company continued to optimize its advertising technology, which had a positive and material impact on render rate, fill rate, and CPMs;
• With the completion of the DMR acquisition at the end of the fourth quarter, the Company has acquired a total of 15 new streaming channels and 15,000 new films and TV episodes through seven roll-up acquisitions during the previous 16 months;
• The Company now has a portfolio of 30 streaming channels positioned in AVOD, SVOD and FAST with over 50 major advertising partners including 15 wholly owned and operated channels such as Fandor, Screambox and The Dove Channel, and several premium third-party branded channels such as The Bob Ross Channel and Real Madrid TV;
• Adjusted EBITDA was a negative $0.4 million in the current year quarter, an improvement of $2.1 million versus negative Adjusted EBITDA of $2.5 million in the prior year period;
• Net loss of $3.1 million, or $(0.02) per share, an improvement of $3.8 million or $0.03 per share, versus a net loss of $6.9 million, or $(0.05) per share, in the prior year quarter.

Key Full Year Financial Results (Twelve-Months Ended March 31, 2022):

• Consolidated revenue was $56.1 million, up 78% over the prior year, driven by the launch of new streaming channels, roll-up acquisitions, organic growth in existing channels, an expansion of the Company’s distribution with new and existing Smart TV platforms and contracted Cinema Equipment Sales;
• Streaming channel revenues increased 108% over the prior year;
• Ad-supported streaming channel revenues increased 147% over the prior year;
• Subscription streaming channel revenues increased 63% over the prior year;
• Adjusted EBITDA was $7.1 million in the current year versus a negative $2.9 million in the prior year, representing an increase of $10.0 million;
• Generated net income of $1.2 million, or $0.01 per share, versus a net loss of $63.2 million, or $(0.49) per share, in the same period of the prior year;
• Strong balance sheet with $13.1 million in cash and no debt.

Key Business Highlights During the Quarter:

• Total streaming minutes in the quarter rose to 2.3 billion, up 118% over the prior year quarter and 73% over the sequential quarter;
• Cinedigm’s total ad-supported streaming audience, including web, mobile, social and connected TV increased substantially to approximately 87.1 million monthly viewers, up 236% over the prior year quarter;
• Total subscribers to the Company’s subscription video streaming services increased to approximately 970,000, representing an increase of 336% over the prior year quarter.

During the fiscal year, the Company:

Completed the DMR acquisition and other significant streaming/content asset roll-ups:

• The Company completed the DMR acquisition at the end of the fiscal year, after restructuring the deal, lowering the price to $16.4 million, adding a three-year installment payment schedule and building in the potential for an all-cash deal;
• The integration of DMR is ongoing and moving quickly. DMR was the seventh acquisition of the Company’s roll-up strategy, which included, among others, Fandor, Screambox, Bloody Disgusting, Foundation TV and brought in a total of 15 new streaming channels, 15,000 new films and TV episodes and complete ownership of our proprietary Matchpoint streaming technology;
• The DMR transaction is the latest example of how key players in the media and technology space continue to be attracted by Cinedigm’s Matchpoint technology, distribution capabilities, content scale, and seek to be part of the Company’s rapid and evolving growth narrative.

Expanded its networks and deal pipeline:

• Added 19 new distribution points for the streaming channel portfolio, including distribution expansions on Comcast Xfinity, Dish Network’s SlingTV, ViacomCBS’s PlutoTV, Amazon’s IMDBtv, Samsung TV Plus and LG Channels, among others.

Launched several new technology initiatives:

• The Company launched two NFT initiatives, Fandor Selects and Bloody Disgusting Blood Packs as a means to access and evaluate this new emerging technology and business opportunity;
• The Company announced a deal with Nreal, manufacturer of the recently released Nreal Light AR glasses. As part of the North American launch, Nreal included the CONtv, Real Madrid and Bloody Disgusting FAST channels as well as the CONtv content library on a video-on-demand basis providing the Company early access to a key platform in the pending metaverse.

Positioned the Company for long-term technology leadership:

• Announced the launch of Matchpoint Debut^®, a new automated service that gives filmmakers, distributors, and global content owners the ability to use our industry-leading digital distribution platform, Matchpoint to self-distribute their content;
• Expanded the engineering and R&D resources within the Cinedigm India subsidiary to focus on emerging technologies such as NFTs, the metaverse, Artificial Intelligence and machine learning-based applications;
• Continued development of Cinedigm’s next-generation Matchpoint Blueprint^® v2.0, which will be used to power Cineverse and a portfolio of cross-platform Channel applications.

Further enhanced the management team:

• Appointed key senior personnel in Finance, Accounting, Networks, Product Development, Business Development, Cinedigm India, Business Intelligence, and Podcast. Key executives were promoted into Technology & Product, Marketing, Acquisition, Corporate Systems and M&A and Corporate Development teams. Through acquisition, the Company welcomed a robust team of new executive talent in Engineering, Channel Management, Social Media, Acquisitions, and Business Development.

The Company’s acquisition efforts to build our library of premium content and drive the streaming business included these highlights:

• The Company’s feature films in the library grew by 6,077 assets, up 131% over the prior year quarter;
• Television episodes in the library grew by more than 8,269 assets, up 52% over the prior year quarter;
• Acquired exclusive rights to two action thrillers directed by Derek Presley and starring Neal McDonough, Redstone (December 3, 2021) and Boon (April 1, 2022) in theatres and in home;
• Acquired exclusive North American rights to 7 Days, a romantic comedy starring Karan Soni (Dead Pool), Geraldine Viswanathan (Blockers) and executive produced by Mark Duplass. Film won an Independent Spirit Award as Best New Feature;
• Acquired Boston George, a docuseries on George Jung, one of the most notorious cocaine traffickers and the inspiration for the film Blow (starring Johnny Depp), to be released as a Fandor Exclusive;
• Entered a license agreement with Warner Brothers for 2 seasons of Freddy’s Nightmares, which debuted on Screambox on February 15, 2022, resulting in subscriber lift;
• Extended our long-term relationship with the NFL and released Super Bowl LVI Championship program to a broader audience digitally and in physical format.

The Company reiterates its long-term growth goals for the next 2-4 years:

• Targeting at least 50% annual revenue growth in streaming;
• Growing annual revenue to $150 million through both organic and acquired revenue;
• Growing the content library to 75,000 titles.

The Company has already achieved its previously stated goals of obtaining 40 million monthly viewers and attaining engagement of one billion connected TV minutes. As a result of achieving these growth goals one year earlier than anticipated, the Company is currently in the process of resetting these targets. Yahoo! News