Thank you, Brian. I'm Karen Gross, Executive Vice President, Acting General Counsel, and Secretary of Paramount Global. At this time, I will take us through the business portion of today's meeting, and I ask that you observe the rules of conduct that are posted on our annual meeting website. Please note that we will have a general question-and-answer session following the business portion of this meeting. You can submit questions by following the instructions on our annual meeting website. Joining us for today's meeting are representatives of PricewaterhouseCoopers, our independent auditor, American Election Services, our independent inspector of elections, and Broadridge Financial Solutions, which has certified that it properly mailed the proxy materials on our behalf. Stockholders who held Paramount Class A Common Stock at the close of business on our record date of May 5th are entitled to vote today.
Based on information provided by Broadridge, I have confirmed that we do have a quorum of stockholders present for today's meeting. In addition, a list of the stockholders entitled to vote is available for inspection if you click on the Registered Shareholder List link found on our annual meeting website. The polls for the items to be voted on are now open. Class A stockholders who have not already voted or who wish to change their votes may do so now by following the instructions on the annual meeting website. Please note that if you have already voted and do not wish to change your vote, you do not need to vote again at this time. The first item of business is the election of directors.
The seven nominees named in our proxy statement are Mary Boyce, Barbara Byrnes, Linda Griego, Charles Ryan, Shari Redstone, Roanne Schrago Leach, and Susan Schuman. Biographies for each of the nominees are included in our proxy statement. Our board recommends a vote for the number of shares of our Class B Common Stock authorized for issuance under the plan. The amendments are further described in our proxy statement for this proposal. The third item of business is the amendment and restatement of our 2015 Equity Plan for outside directors, primarily to extend the plan's term. The amendments are further described in our proxy statement. For the reasons discussed in our proxy statement, our board recommends that you vote for this proposal.
The fourth item of business is a stockholder proposal from the National Center for Public Policy Research requesting that the company issue a report detailing the potential risks associated with omitting viewpoint and ideology from our Equal Employment Opportunity Policy. Mr. Bennett Neuse will be presenting the proposal. Operator, please open the line for Mr. Neuse. Mr. Neuse, thank you for joining us today. As you know, we've allocated three minutes for your presentation and ask that you please go ahead.
All right. Thank you very much. Ladies and gentlemen of the board and assembled shareholders, thank you for allowing me the time to speak in favor of proposal four. If passed, our proposal would require a report and nothing more from the board addressing the institutional risks involved with not including viewpoint and ideology as protected categories within a CEO statement. In its opposition statement to our proposal, the board of Paramount has stated that Paramount is committed to a workplace free of bias, prejudice, harassment, workplace bullying, abusive conduct, and discrimination based on personal characteristics, including viewpoint and ideology. This is a good statement, and we wholly believe that Paramount should abide by its own standard. After all, corporate programs which promote diversity of thought show both an increase in productivity and employee satisfaction.
Unfortunately, in recent years, there appears to be some evidence that Paramount does not protect ideological diversity. Case in point, CBS, a subsidiary company of Paramount, has had continual problems against political bias. This comes in the form of investigations from the FCC regarding potential violations of regulations pertaining to coverage of political campaigns, which, as reported earlier today, Paramount settled for $16 million. Further, Paramount has engaged in arguably unlawful diversity policies, which has required corrective litigation to avert and platforming commentators with arguably lax journalistic ethics, all eventing bias in one political direction. For CBS specifically, which presents itself as a reputable and objective news outlet, such apparent bias is anathema to its mission and can compromise its credibility among potential audiences, thus materially harming Paramount's bottom line.
Because of this troubling fact pattern, shareholders have some reason to suspect that Paramount does not take seriously their own commitment to ideological neutrality. What our proposal seeks to accomplish is not an inversion of the apparent status quo in which Paramount will realign itself with political causes it presently apparently disfavors. Rather, we hope that in the process of compiling the requested report, Paramount recognizes areas in which they may be engaging in viewpoint discrimination consciously or unconsciously and then endeavors to return to neutral roles of general applicability when it comes to viewpoint diversity in the workplace. Thank you for allowing me the time to speak on proposal four, and I hope that shareholders vote with our proposal. I yield the rest of my time.
Thank you, Mr. Neuse. For the reasons discussed in our proxy statement, the board does not believe requiring the company to issue a report of this type is the right approach for Paramount at this time, and the board recommends a vote against this proposal. Since there is no other business to come before the meeting, the polls are now closed. According to the preliminary report of the inspector of election, each of the proposals voted on today, other than the stockholder proposal presented by Mr. Neuse, has been approved by a majority of the shares entitled to vote at this meeting and is therefore approved. The stockholder proposal did not receive sufficient votes to be approved. We will report the voting results of today's meeting on a Form 8-K, and the final report of the inspector of election will be included in the records of this meeting.
The business portion of our meeting is now adjourned. I'd like to introduce Jaime Morris, our Executive Vice President, Investor Relations, who will moderate our question-and-answer session.
Thanks, Karen. I'm happy to be here to facilitate our Q&A session this morning. We've received several questions from shareholders, so why don't we get started? It was reported yesterday that the company settled the lawsuit with the president. What drove the company's decision to settle?
Hey, Jaime, this is George. I'll take that. Yes, the company has agreed in principle to settle the lawsuit, and as reported, it does not include an apology. Now, as to the why, look, companies often settle litigation to avoid the high and somewhat unpredictable cost of legal defense, the risk of an adverse judgment that could result in significant financial as well as reputational damage, and the disruption to business operations that prolonged legal battles can cause. Settlement offers a negotiated resolution that allows companies to focus on their core objectives rather than being mired in uncertainty and distraction. We issued a statement last night that reflects the agreed terms.
Thanks, George. Our next question is about D2 C. The company has made significant progress in moving the business along the path to profitability. Shareholders are asking if we can share more about the drivers of the improvement and what gives us confidence in Paramount+ reaching domestic profitability this year.
Hey, Jaime. This is Chris. I'll take that. Listen, it's really the content strategy for our originals that are at the center of our strategy for success. We've taken a different strategy than the industry. It's really about fewer, bigger, breakthrough original series. We really don't believe volume is going to win the game here. It's volume of hits. When you look at the performance that we had over the past quarter and the past year, I think the power of this strategy really is demonstrated. We had the most top 10 SVOD original series behind only the market leader. I'd like to note that's at a fraction of the volume of all the other players in the space. That's proof that this strategy is really delivering and it's a really efficient one. Now, those originals have helped us to drive some really substantial growth.
We've added 10 million incremental subscribers. We have double-digit growth in watch time. We increased our price and also reduced our churn. Now, listen, when it comes to volume of content, we see there's a real benefit of that, but we get that from the benefit of being a fully integrated streaming, linear, and theatrical business. The volume of our content comes from the biggest hits from across the company, whether it's CBS, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, MTV, or of course, Paramount Pictures. Taken together, it's all of this great content, plus the improvements that we've made in our platform, and of course, I'd be remiss if I didn't say our incredibly talented teams from across the company that have enabled us to drive significant growth. Revenue is now over $6 billion in annual revenue. That's up 33% year- over- year.
Last year alone, we drove $1.2 billion of improvement in D2 C profitability. Listen, we're very proud of the success that we had to date, and we really do believe the best is yet to come.
Thanks, Chris. We have also received questions that are focused on the broader macro environment. In particular, several shareholders are asking for an update on recent advertising trends and what we're seeing in the marketplace.
Hey, Jaime. It's Chris again. I'll take that. Listen, we clearly have our eyes on the macro environment. It's on everyone's mind, and we'll continue to monitor it. To date, we really haven't seen any material impact. Now, if we take a step back, I'd say we feel really good about where we stand given a few facts. We have an incredible slate of hits that are coming from across the company. We have one of the largest addressable footprints that combines both streaming and linear. We have some of the biggest live events and an incredible lineup of sports from CBS. It's all of these things that are really critical to advertisers. There has absolutely been some increased pressure in the marketplace with the recent increases in volume, but that's really impacting the lower side of the market.
We believe that that's going to balance out over time as equilibrium takes place. Listen, at the end of the day, we're in a hit-driven business. When it comes to hits, we're delivering in a big way. It drives our consumers. It drives our clients. It drives our revenue. From that measuring stick, we feel really good.
Great. Thanks, Chris. We have one more question that we'll take this morning, and it's focused on content. It is clear that Paramount's content engine is firing on all cylinders. Can you provide some insight on how content drives value across the company? Brian, maybe you want to take that one.
Sure, Jaime. Thank you. Look, our content investments drive engagement across all of our platforms: streaming, linear, and theatrical, benefiting a number of revenue streams. For example, Paramount+ originals are usually successful on the platform. When we have strategically brought them to CBS, we build awareness and attract incremental viewers back to Paramount+ . While the NFL is our most-watched program on CBS, it is also the number one driver of starts on Paramount+ . The number two driver of starts from a genre point of view on Paramount+ are Paramount Pictures films. That is following their box office success. It all works together for us. That is not to mention the value that we get from one of the deepest libraries in the industry, which drives engagement on Pluto TV and our licensing business over the long term.
On behalf of George, Chris, and myself, thank you for joining us today. In 2025, our momentum has only continued. We are operating in support of our strategic priorities, and we continue to push Paramount forward by investing in world-class content and fostering our creative culture and driving value for our shareholders. Thank you for joining us.
Ladies and gentlemen, that does conclude today's presentation. We do thank you for joining. You may now disconnect your line.