MONTREAL – Quebecor Media’s TVA Group reported across the board declines in revenue and earnings for the third quarter of its fiscal year.
Operating revenues came in at $119.5 million for the third quarter ended September 30th, a year-over-year decrease of $6.1 million. Net income attributable to shareholders was $8.4 million, compared with $13.4 million in Q3 2019.
Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA), came in at $23.3 million, a $7.8 million decrease. Of that, $16.9 million in EBITDA came from the company’s broadcasting segment, a $5 million “unfavourable variance due primarily to a 71.1% decrease in adjusted EBITDA of the specialty channels, particularly TVA Sports which recorded a significant increase in costs for the current quarter as a result of the postponement of the National Hockey League playoffs, partially offset by a significant increase in adjusted generated by TVA Network and commercial production services,” reads the press release.
“As expected, the Covid-19 pandemic continued impacting our business and on our third quarter 2020 results. The periodic resurgence of the virus and the various measures taken by government authorities to curb its spread continued to cause, among other things, a significant decline in advertising revenues, a large reduction in the sporting events broadcast by the ‘TVA Sports’ specialty channel, despite the broadcast of the NHL playoffs in the third quarter, and a need to adapt our work environments and methods in order to protect the health and safety of our employees and the public.” said France Lauzière, president and CEO.
“I am proud of the work our people have been doing to pursue our mission of informing and entertaining the public under these difficult conditions. TVA Group’s total market share increased by 3.2 points to 41.5% in the third quarter of 2020, while the specialty channels posted a 3.3-point increase as a result of a 2-point gain by LCN, which held its status as Quebec’s most-watched specialty channel with a 7.1 share,” added Lauziere.
TVA Sports “also registered a 1.9-point increase due to the broadcast of the NHL playoffs in the third quarter of 2020 and the fact that the Montreal Canadiens qualified for the playoffs. Two sporting events in which the Montreal Canadiens appeared were among the top 30 most-watched shows in Quebec during the quarter. Three of the top five shows in Quebec during the quarter were on TVA Network, including La Voix, which was a standout again with an average audience of more than 1.5 million viewers.”
For the full results, please click here.
