Cracks are already showing in big media giants’ once-bulletproof balance sheets as American companies pull back on digital and broadcast advertising, a sign that higher inflation is yanking the economy closer to recession.
Big Tech companies have already teased what Wall Street might see when Warner Bros. Discovery, Paramount, Fox and Lionsgate all report quarterly earnings in the next several days. Ad spending is definitively slowing from the small mom-and-pop business owners who advertise on Facebook to major international brand names hawking products on Amazon.
And that puts Hollywood’s leading entertainment conglomerates in a tough spot — robust ad sales are what’s keeping most of them from careening into the red.