AMC Global Media booked an $85 million Walking Dead settlement charge as streaming revenue rose 4%

AMC Global Media, which owns the streaming services AMC+, Acorn TV and Shudder and the cable networks AMC and IFC, said on November 9, 2026, that it recorded an $85 million charge in the third quarter for its settlement of a lawsuit brought by producers of The Walking Dead. In the same three months, revenue from its streaming services rose 4.3% to $181.4 million, which the company, called AMC Networks until April, attributes mainly to price increases across its services.

Total revenue rose 0.8% to $566.1 million in the quarter to September 30. Impairment and other charges, the line that holds the settlement charge and a $3.7 million pre-tax gain on the sale of the ALLBLK streaming service, came to $81.3 million, and AMC reported an operating loss of $41.6 million, against operating income of $55.5 million a year earlier. The net loss attributable to shareholders was $47.4 million; last year's net income of $76.5 million included a $105.3 million gain on retiring debt. Adjusted operating income, a non-GAAP measure the company counts among its most important indicators, fell 25.4% to $70.4 million.

Streaming up, cable fees down

The rest of subscription revenue is affiliate revenue, which AMC earns from distributors that carry its cable networks. It fell 10.8% to about $127 million, which AMC puts down mainly to declines in basic subscribers. Streaming revenue was therefore about 43% larger than affiliate revenue in the quarter, against about 22% a year earlier (our calculation). Advertising fell 6.9%, on lower marketplace pricing partly offset by growth in digital advertising. Excluding ALLBLK, which AMC sold on August 26, streaming revenue rose 6.7%.

Chief executive Kristin Dolan described the company's approach as “a targeted streaming strategy that is complementary to larger and more expensive options from other providers.” The release gives no subscriber numbers for the streaming services.

The Walking Dead, on Netflix and in court

Content licensing and other revenue rose 41.7% to $84.2 million. The quarterly report links the jump to the timing of deliveries, including the start of a license with ALLBLK's buyer and the start of Netflix's co-exclusive license for some Walking Dead Universe rights. Under that deal, announced on July 30, Netflix gets co-exclusive global streaming rights to every show in the franchise and pays $500 million in quarterly installments over five years, about $25 million of it expected in 2026. Because the payments are spread out, AMC expects to recognize about $450 million of revenue from it.

AMC keeps the right to stream the shows on its own services. Netflix's U.S. rights to Fear the Walking Dead began in the third quarter, and those to The Walking Dead itself begin on January 6, 2027; AMC+ plans to offer every season of the original series from January 7 in a Walking Dead Universe Collection. AMC expects licensing revenue to rise in the fourth quarter from a year earlier as more rights under the deal start. The deal also adds costs: domestic technical and operating expenses rose 9.8%, which the company attributes mainly to higher participation and residual costs from new licensing deals, the Netflix agreement among them, and to other programming costs.

The settlement ends a case filed in November 2022 by Robert Kirkman, Gale Anne Hurd, David Alpert, Glen Mazzara and Charles Eglee and their companies. They claimed AMC had breached most-favored-nation clauses in their contracts by not paying them extra contingent compensation after its July 2021 settlement with Frank Darabont, a writer, director and producer on the series, and sought more than $200 million in damages. In its previous quarterly report, filed July 30, AMC said it believed the claims were without merit and would vigorously defend against them if they were not dismissed.

The parties entered into the settlement on September 4, weeks before a jury trial set for October 27. It is worth $120 million in all: AMC paid $85 million in cash on September 16 and owes another $35 million by January 31, 2027, which counts as an advance against participation amounts the plaintiffs will earn in the normal course from The Walking Dead and Fear the Walking Dead. The release says the $85 million charge was recorded “in consideration for the dismissal of the action with prejudice.” The agreement includes mutual releases, and the case was closed on September 17.

Cash and the slate

Free cash flow, by AMC's non-GAAP definition, was negative $52 million in the quarter, or positive $33 million excluding the one-time settlement payment, the company says. It had $440.2 million in cash at September 30. AMC also announced a co-production agreement with Netflix to develop new AMC Studios series, the first of them a spy drama called Bannerman. Separately, it approved Happy Jack, a comedy starring Charlie Sheen and Martin Sheen that is due on AMC and AMC+ in 2027.