TV advertising declines slow down for Corus in Q4

Corus Entertainment Inc. continues to feel the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, but the rate of decline in advertising improved in the fourth quarter compared to the third, the company said Thursday. “We are seeing sequential improvements in month to month now in recovery of advertising,” CEO Doug Murphy told financial analysts on a conference call. Overall, TV ad revenues were down 24.6 per cent, the company reported. But Murphy said “each month is getting better relative to the prior year.” Those advertising declines made the previous quarter a “very tough” one for Corus, in which TV advertising dropped by 31.5 per cent year-on-year. Corus said in its quarterly results that the company “continues to work closely with its advertisers and agencies to create relevant and innovative marketing and advertising opportunities, which has meant that revenue declines are not as pronounced as they were when strict quarantine measures were in place.” The company reported $318.4 million in revenues in the three-month period ending on Aug. 31, down from $377.5 million in the same quarter a year earlier. Net income was $30.3 million, up from $22.95 million. Overall, August was the best month the company saw since the start of the pandemic, CFO John Gossling said, adding there was “continued progress into September.” TV revenues were down to $299.1 million from $343.8 million over the year, with a profit of $98.8 million, compared to $108.6 million in the same quarter last year. Radio revenues were also down to $19.3 million, from $33.7 million, but radio profit fell more significantly, to $1.2 million from $6.9 million. The pandemic has also caused disruptions in the production of content, leading to “a larger number of repeats and fewer new episodes on all networks that has resulted in lower programming costs.” But costs of Canadian productions that have been able to go ahead are up 15 per cent due to increased costs of personal protective equipment and insurance and the scarce availability of cast, crew members and studio space, Corus outlined in its results document. The shut down and gradual restart of productions means that the company’s ability to meet its Canadian programming expenditure (CPE) requirements has been affected, it said. Corus has been arguing that regulators should loosen those requirements as a result, a point that was recently strongly opposed by the Writers’ Guild of Canada at the CRTC. “Corus is currently assessing its obligations and the potential implications of not fulfilling its CRTC obligations in light of the ongoing pandemic,” the company said in its quarterly report. Murphy said he still believes, despite a recent second wave of the pandemic and the possibility of an election being triggered, that the Liberal government will soon introduce its long-promised new rules for streaming services and web giants. “We are relatively confident that we’ll see something before the end of this calendar year. I’ve been in conversation with Heritage as recently as two days ago on this file,” he said. — Reporting by Anja Karadeglija at akarad@thewirereport.ca and editing by Michael Lee-Murphy at mleemurphy@thewirereport.ca

TV advertising declines slow down for Corus in Q4

Broadcast | October 22, 2020

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TV advertising declines slow down for Corus in Q4

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