Boyko confirms the Covid crisis is rough for radio
By Ken Kelley
TORONTO – Less than a year ago, Corus Entertainment was on the cusp of launching its Stack TV product on Amazon, which arrived right on the heels of the Adult Swim channel launch in Canada in addition to other significant milestones such as deals with Hallmark, as well as launching the Global TV app.
Combine those product launches then with the unprecedented Covid-19 pandemic (and the way so many of us are at home watching) now, company president and CEO Doug Murphy left no room for interpretation on how the company is faring as he spoke to the TD Securities’ Telecom & Media Virtual Conference on Wednesday.
“What we’ve seen is unequivocal growth in both audience and platforms,” he said. “The strategy we announced a year ago is paying off,” he said.
Murphy noted the 40th season finale of Survivor Winners at War had an audience of 2.4 million Canadians, making it the most-watched finale in 15 seasons of the show and across Global streaming platforms for the first seven days the episode was available, the show saw a 55% increase in streams across all platforms compared to the most recent finale in December. Meanwhile, other Global TV shows all saw significant year-over-year audience growth for their season finales.
“Big is still big when it comes to television,” he added. “But television for us is more about platform. Yes, linear service still plays a big part, but also making content available on Stack TV and on the Global app so cable subscribers can watch content wherever they are.
Murphy acknowledged a big part of the boost to the company’s viewership numbers (ad dollars are not following at the same pace as clients pulled back on marketing spending as they manage the crisis) is the Covid-19 pandemic has shut down all major sports leagues in North America and viewers are turning to drama and lifestyle programming. He doesn’t anticipate Corus’ current numbers will be a permanent thing moving forward, but does foresee the broadcaster retaining at least some of those sports-starved fans.
“We have all these new viewers of services coming to Corus, and they aren’t just watching the live feed; they’re also seeing content on demand. People are streaming more content on demand since they’re isolating, and while that’s not a measurement per se, they’re building an affinity for shows that will be returning to our fall lineup. We’re building a lasting following and an affinity among viewers and I’m confident a certain portion will stay with us in the fall,” Murphy said.
“It’s a very unusual time, and I’m of the view that the tailwinds we’re seeing in audiences now will sustain themselves when sports do come back. Not necessarily at the same level, but I do think there are changes happening to people’s preferences. That’s something we’ll have to gauge when we get to the fall.”
Following the initial shock of the global pandemic and the belt-tightening that companies of all sizes undertook in the immediate aftermath, Murphy said Corus is beginning to see things change for the better.
“Whether that recovery sustains itself into the fall remains to be seen.” – Doug Murphy, Corus
“The first four weeks were what I refer to as ‘shock and awe’,” Murphy said. “There were outright [ad] cancellations and companies were shutting down discretionary spending. But toward the tail end of those four weeks, we saw new ads being approved by the Canadian Standards Broadcast Council as advertisers were coming back. During that stabilization period we saw new campaigns that offset the cancellations, and now, over the last couple of weeks, we’re seeing a modest recovery. Whether that recovery sustains itself into the fall remains to be seen, but as our fall schedule starts to firm up, we like what we’re seeing.”
Stingray president and CEO Eric Boyko was also a featured guest at the virtual conference on Wednesday. Speaking approximately one week before the company releases its latest quarterly results, Boyko said the Covid-19 pandemic assured the April ad market was “a wash,” but he’s optimistic May and June will show signs of recovery for the TV music services and radio broadcasting company.
“It’s a tough time for radio.” – Eric Boyko, Stingray
“Our ratings have been great. More people are listening to us than ever before – radio listenership has never been so high – but nobody is buying the inventory. It’s a tough time for radio,” Boyko stated.
Stingray has seen a flurry of annoucements over the last two months, from setting up a $15-million local business stimulus plan earlier this month to its acquisition of POS marketing solutions provider Marketing Sensorial Mexico, and a 30% stake in The Podcast Exchange, Boyko says it’s important Stingray remains nimble as it grows.
“We were able to trim 25% of our costs rather quickly via cutting travel and various other perks,” he says, “but thinking long-term, you can’t become Google by cutting costs. But we’re seeing double-digit growth on the SVOD side of the business, which is helping offset radio losses.”
Boyko says the company’s top priority in light of the Covid-19 pandemic has been debt repayment. But he also anticipates the company will be first at the starting line for potential M&A deals when things – hopefully – get back to normal in the fall.
“We’re doubling our M&A team and plan to be very aggressive. The fall is the best time to do deals.”
