By Ahmad Hathout
Corus co-CEO Troy Reeb said Friday the media company has received favourable feedback from Canadian advertisers about a campaign to encourage the movement of their ad spend away from foreign streamers and toward Canadian platforms as the “Buy Canadian” movement sweeps the nation.
“We are hearing lots of intent from Canadian advertisers to try to support these goals,” Reeb said on the company’s fiscal second-quarter conference call. “But there’s always a gap between intent and action. I think it’s too early to say if this is a meaningful shift.
“I think the entire industry needs to continue to reinforce this message and I think we’re all pleased to see some version of it coming up … whether print legacy companies, broadcast legacy companies, et cetera,” he added.
The comments came in response to a question with a concern: how do you convince advertisers to move money away from streaming giants with far bigger scale than Canadian platforms?
“We’ve certainly seen some; we have certainly assisted some Canadian advertisers already with campaigns that we have packaged by Canadian messaging around and they have come and sought out partnerships on that messaging, specifically because of the ongoing situation,” Reeb added. “But how meaningful a shift that will be in the overall advertising line, I think it’s too early to tell.”
There has been a heightened sense of pride and defensiveness that has swept Canada since U.S. President Donald Trump announced the imposition of tariffs on Canadian imports, threatening a trade relationship on which some Canadian businesses heavily rely.
A product of that tension is the “Buy Canadian” movement that has made its way into industries. For example, major grocery stores have adopted clear labeling for Canadian-made products.
Reeb pitched the company’s services in the call, stating it has seen an “incredible response” to the programming this year, which provides “an attractive multi-platform environment for advertisers to reach our highly engaged audiences.
“We are also working with our clients to create custom content and help them connect with their Canadian customers during this pivotal moment of national resilience,” Reeb added. “We have leaned into our hundreds of weekly hours of Canadian original programming and homegrown brands like Flavor Network and Home Network to create new integration opportunities for clients who want to fly their Canadian colors and digital environments alike.
“At the same time, there has never been a better time to reexamine the breadth and depth of our extensive multi-platform video and audio offerings. Investing in Canadian media supports our efforts to provide entertainment, critical news, and information for Canadians by Canadians.”
The company has 30 specialty television networks, 15 conventional television stations, and 36 radio stations.
He said the company’s new Home and Flavour networks – both of which make up for the loss of the HGTV and Food Network trademarks, respectively – have had almost 11 million Canadians tune in since their launch on December 30. The company also reported that this second quarter has been its best for monthly active users on streaming, which includes its Stack TV service.
As for the impact of the tariffs on content exports, Reeb said the company currently doesn’t have clarity on whether that type of service is impacted, which could affect advertising spend. He did, however, say that the company has secured most of its U.S. content supply from a previous deal.
However, the company is reporting an oversupply of digital video inventory, combined with lower advertising demand on linear television. “The Buy Canadian movement … is helping to mitigate some of the industry-wide advertising trends as companies adjust their business strategies and marketing campaigns to build on the increased interest in Canadian products from consumers,” Reeb said. “The federal election is also expected to provide a tailwind given the heightened interest in news and information in the current environment.”
Still, for the three months that ended February 28, Corus reported a year-over-year decline of nine per cent in television revenue, which sat at $251.8 million ($129.5 million on advertising, $111.9 million on subscriptions and $10.4 million on distribution, production and others – each lower compared to the same period last year).
Profit in this segment was down 62 per cent to $22.6 million compared to the same period last year, which is attributed, in part, to a decline in television and subscriber revenues.
Radio revenue was down 14 per cent over that period with $18.5 million in the quarter. Profit in the segment, however, was up by 68 per cent to $1.44 million.
On a consolidated basis, advertising revenue was down 13 per cent, while subscriber revenue was down five per cent. Company executives said Friday that subscriptions have remained “relatively resilient” following the $2-dollar price increase of its Stack TV service.
