Paramount beats quarterly revenue on direct-to-consumer growth

May 8 (Reuters) - Paramount Global PARA.O beat Wall Street estimates for first-quarter revenue on Thursday, driven by a growth in its direct-to-consumer and filmed entertainment businesses.

The company's direct-to-consumer business, which includes streaming platforms Paramount+, BET and PlutoTV, was strengthened by its originals and post-theatrical releases such as "Gladiator II".

The segment posted revenue of $2.04 billion, up 9% for the first quarter ended March 31.

Sales for its filmed entertainment segment increased 4% to $627 million.

Paramount and Skydance's "Mission Impossible - The Final Reckoning", which may mark Tom Cruise's last appearance in the long-running franchise, is expected to boost studio revenue in the second quarter.

Skydance Media and Paramount's $8 billion merger deadline was automatically extended by 90 days from April 7, under the terms of the companies' agreement.

The company reported first-quarter revenue of $7.19 billion, beating analysts' estimate of $7.09 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG.

Paramount+, the company's flagship streaming platform, added 1.5 million subscribers during the quarter, below the estimate of 1.66 million new subscribers, according to data from Visible Alpha.