Cinedigm Chief Sits Out Streaming 'Wars'; Stock Down Post-Results

Cinedigm quarterly revenue fell 14% to $10 million from the year-ago quarter due to COVID-19's impact on the theatrical equipment business, the company reported Monday. Its net loss soared 377% to $9.7 million. The stock fell 18% Tuesday to $1.57. Streaming is the fastest-growing segment of the entertainment business, said CEO Chris McGurk on a Q3 call Monday. The company opposes “participating directly” in the big streaming wars, he said. “Companies like Netflix and Disney and Comcast are spending billions of dollars on original content and marketing to try to build massive subscriber bases at the expense of each other.” Cinedigm focuses “on building out a widely distributed portfolio of more targeted streaming channels” to appeal to “specific enthusiast audiences,” he said. Cinedigm's strategy “is not competitive with the expensive subscription-focused Netflix and Disney+ and Peacock and all of the other major media, general entertainment channels that are at war with each other for subscribers,” said McGurk. “Our targeted enthusiast-channel approach is a perfectly complementary strategy to that of the major media, general entertainment streaming channels.”