What caused AMCX's Q4 2024 earnings to miss forecasts?

AMC Networks Inc. (AMCX) experienced a notable miss in its Q4 2024 earnings, primarily due to a combination of declining revenue streams and operational challenges:

1. **Revenue Decline**: The company's consolidated revenue fell by 11.7% year-over-year to $599.31 million, missing the analyst consensus estimate of $609.44 million. This decline was driven by a decrease in domestic operations revenue, which dropped 9% for the full year and 11% for the fourth quarter. Additionally, content licensing revenues decreased by 30% to $67 million due to the availability of deliveries.
2. **Advertising and Affiliate Revenue Decline**: AMC Networks saw a 12% decrease in advertising revenues and a 13% decrease in affiliate revenue compared to the previous year. These declines were attributed to challenges in the linear TV market and anticipated ratings declines.
3. **International Revenue Challenge**: Although international revenue increased by 2% in the fourth quarter excluding certain adjustments, the full-year international revenue decreased by 3%.
4. **Operating Loss**: The company reported an operating loss of $254 million in the fourth quarter, with an adjusted operating income of $129 million, which was lower than the expected figure.
5. **Miss in EPS**: The reported EPS for the quarter was $0.64, which was significantly below the anticipated $1.03, resulting in a 37.9% miss.

Despite these challenges, AMC Networks highlighted strategic initiatives such as successful streaming partnerships and an increase in streaming subscribers, which partially mitigated the revenue declines.