Cineverse's quarterly revenue more than doubled on ad tech as streaming minutes rose 8% to 4.05 billion

Cineverse, the Los Angeles company that runs free ad-supported (FAST) and subscription channels such as RetroCrush and The Dog Whisperer, said on November 13, 2026, that revenue more than doubled in its fiscal second quarter, the three months to September 30. Revenue rose 110% from a year earlier to $26.0 million, and the growth came mainly from two businesses it bought in the previous fiscal fourth quarter: IndiCue, an advertising technology company, and Giant Worldwide, which prepares and delivers films and series to streaming platforms for studios. Its 10-Q puts their contribution at $14.3 million, more than the $13.6 million rise in total revenue, as physical and theatrical distribution revenue fell. Revenue from its own streaming business rose 1% to $9.7 million.

Cineverse now describes itself as a streaming technology and entertainment company, and says technology and media services made up 55% of revenue in the quarter, against less than 5% a year earlier. Ad tech alone brought in $11.2 million, more than the streaming and digital line (our comparison).

More viewing on fewer channels

Viewing on Cineverse's channels grew faster than its streaming and digital revenue (our comparison). Total minutes streamed rose 8% from a year earlier to 4.05 billion, and minutes on FAST channels rose 7% to 3.84 billion, about 95% of the total (our calculation). The company wound down three channels during the quarter; without them, it says, total minutes would have risen 36% and FAST minutes 37%. Cineverse names Dove, The Dog Whisperer and Yu-Gi-Oh as having had their most watched quarters on record. Dove drew 854 million minutes, up 80%, as its audience grew 43% and the average viewer watched 26% more minutes.

Paying subscribers grew more slowly. Cineverse's subscription channels ended the quarter with 1.44 million subscribers, up 2%, although subscribers to its flagship Cineverse channel rose 62%, as did its subscribers on Roku across all channels. RetroCrush, its anime channel, and the Cineverse channel were both at record subscriber numbers for a second quarter in a row. Physical and theatrical distribution revenue halved, mainly because the year-earlier quarter included the theatrical release of Toxic Avenger, according to the 10-Q.

A profit, helped by a one-off gain

Net income attributable to common stockholders was $3.2 million, or $0.11 a diluted share, against a loss of $5.7 million a year earlier. Cineverse says the improvement came mainly from a non-recurring $7.0 million decrease in the valuation of liabilities tied to its acquisitions, partly offset by higher interest costs. Adjusted EBITDA, a measure that leaves out items such as interest, taxes and acquisition costs, was $1.7 million, a third consecutive positive quarter. Its direct operating margin fell to 38% from 58%, which the company says it anticipated after the two acquisitions.

Cineverse ended September with $3.6 million in cash and reported negative net working capital of $9.7 million, while noting it can settle $8.0 million of what it owes for IndiCue in shares. It reaffirmed its outlook for fiscal 2027: revenue of $115 million to $120 million and adjusted EBITDA of $10 million to $20 million.

Jason returns, and a busy October

On Friday, November 13, Cineverse said it had secured long-term North American distribution rights, in theaters and all other media, to the 13th feature film in the Jason Universe franchise from Horror, Inc. Chairman and chief executive Chris McGurk said the film “should be another high impact theatrical release” for the company. He also said Cineverse preliminarily estimates October revenue at about $15 million, which will fall in its next fiscal quarter, and the company says October was its ad-tech business's best month since it bought IndiCue, helped by political advertising.