A yr after Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment (CSSE) purchased Redbox for $375 million, the corporate continues to be hit by losses and appears to scale back prices throughout all facets of its enterprise.

CSSE reported its second quarter 2023 earnings this week, which confirmed a web lack of $43.7 million– greater than double the $20.8 million it misplaced within the year-ago interval. However, the corporate additionally reported $79.9 million in income, up from $37.6 million within the second quarter of 2022. Still, whole income did not dwell as much as Wall Street expectations.

The poor outcomes had been largely because of the 2022 acquisition of Redbox for $50 million in inventory and the idea of $325 million in debt.

To pay down its debt, CSSE says it needs to chop down on working bills, maintain off on content material acquisition offers, in addition to give attention to different income streams like advertising Redbox kiosk display time to third-party advertisers.

The firm just lately struck a deal with TikTok to deliver well-liked content material to over 3,000 digital video screens at Redbox kiosks. Redbox additionally expanded its partnership with Dollar General to roll out 1,500 extra kiosks to its shops over the following two years.

CSSE introduced through the earnings name that it’s shutting down the Seattle-based workplace, and people staff will work remotely. In January, the corporate lowered its workforce by 4%.

Additionally, CSSE plans to assemble a strategic evaluate committee within the coming weeks to debate an array of different choices. Most notably, Rouhana advised Media Play News that the corporate is contemplating a possible sale or partnership however declined to elaborate.

“There have been some inquiries that have come our way that could be pretty serious, which is why we are setting up the committee,” Rouhana mentioned.

During the decision, Rouhana cited the unsure media setting as being the reason for its unsatisfactory quarter, with the continuing author and actor strikes being the most recent concern.

“There have been massive changes in the media space and in the broader economy and they’re affecting everyone,” Rouhana mentioned. “This is an entire industry that is feeling some pain, but despite these changes, we are fully committed to growing our business and streamlining it in the most cost-effective way, and we’re capable of doing that.”

However, Rouhana believes the strikes will enhance the demand for library titles, which provides Redbox an opportunity to show its price.

“We have a large catalog we can monetize in the event of a prolonged slowdown,” added Rouhana. “In other words, the longer the strike continues, the more valuable the library becomes.”

Redbox generated $30.9 million in disc rental income in Q2, barely down from $32.3 million within the earlier quarter. CSSE’s streaming enterprise — Redbox Digital and Crackle Plus, amongst different platforms — earned $31.7 million, in comparison with $34.6 million within the first quarter.