TORONTO – "We are pleased to announce that our advertising revenue increased by 16.1% due to strong audience growth and our subscriber revenue increased 8.5% due to steady gains in subscriber volumes made by all our channels," said Phyllis Yaffe, CEO of Alliance Atlantis in a press release this morning announcing the company’s first quarter results.
"The CSI franchise continued its exceptional performance, recording revenue growth of 74.3% during the quarter, fuelled by strong international second window sales."
Besides CSI, Alliance Atlantis also owns specialty services Showcase, HGTV, Food Network, Slice, History Television, National Geographic Canada, Fine Living, Showcase Action, Showcase Diva, Discovery Health, BBC Kids, BBC Canada, and IFC. CanWest Global, with the support of Goldman Sachs, agreed to acquire the company during the quarter, pending regulatory approvals.
During the quarter, broadcasting recorded revenue growth of 11.9% to $78 million compared to the first quarter of 2006. Subscriber revenue grew by 8.5% to $35.7 million in the quarter and advertising revenue grew by 16.1% to $41.9 million in the quarter, due primarily to growth in audiences.
Broadcasting operating expenses for the quarter were $23.4 million, up from $17.3 million in the prior year’s period. The increase is primarily related to the re-launch of Slice (formerly Life Network) ($2.5 million) and digital media initiatives ($1.7 million).
Broadcasting EBITDA of $20.7 million increased $600,000 or 3% in the quarter. Excluding the impact of the Slice re-launch and digital media expenses, Broadcasting EBITDA was $24.9 million, representing an increase of $4.8 million or 23.9%.
CSI revenue of $162.3 million increased by 74.3% compared to the prior year’s period. The company continued to recognize significant second window international licensing arrangements and also delivered an increased number of episodes internationally. The positive impact of foreign exchange in the current quarter was $2.3 million, as the rate for the quarter was $1.17 compared to $1.15 in the prior year.
CSI direct profit of $62.3 million increased $27.5 million or 79% due primarily to higher international sales as well as the positive impact of foreign exchange of $1.5 million, says the release.
Revenue at the Motion Picture Distribution Group was $109.5 million during the quarter compared to $100.6 million for the prior year’s period, an increase of 8.8%.
Several of Alliance Atlantis’ specialty television channels delivered record Adult 25-54 audiences during the Winter 2007 season, according to the release. HGTV Canada, History Television, National Geographic Channel, Discovery Health Channel, and IFC all recorded peak Adult 25-54 Mo-Su 6am-6am average minute audiences. Subsequent to quarter end, Food Network Canada experienced its highest weekly average minute audience since its launch in October 2000, added the company.
"Alliance Atlantis’ specialty television channels continued their strong record of top rankings for the Winter 2007 period. During the first quarter, three of the Company’s established analog channels ranked in the top 10 of all Canadian English language specialty networks, with HGTV ranking 4th, History 6th and Showcase ranking 7th," it said.
Among the digital specialty networks launched since 2001, four of Alliance Atlantis’ digital channels ranked in the top 10 for adult 25-54 audiences with Showcase Action ranking 1st, National Geographic Channel ranking 2nd, Showcase Diva ranking 5th, and IFC ranking 7th.
