MONTREAL – Quebecor Media’s TV, film and publishing division TVA Group reported second quarter operating revenues of $146 million, a year-over-year increase of $5.8 million for the period ending June 30.
The quarterly net loss attributable to shareholders was $6.2 million, which compares to a net loss attributable to shareholders of $9.6 million in the same quarter of 2018.
Consolidated adjusted EBITDA of $3.76 million was $6.57 million better than Q2 2018.
In the broadcasting segment of the company, TVA Group reported $1.9 million negative adjusted EBITDA, $6.2 million better than last year’s quarter, mainly attributable to the acquisition of the Évasion and Zeste TV channels earlier this year. The company recorded a 4.8% decrease in the negative adjusted EBITDA of TVA Sports, and an increase in the adjusted EBITDA of the other specialty channels and TVA Network.
“We are satisfied with our results for the second quarter of our financial year. Unfortunately, given the many challenges we face, TVA Group had to make deep budget cuts during the quarter to reduce the operating expenses of its business segments. Those moves had a positive impact on our financial results, although their full benefits have yet to be realized,” said France Lauzière, president and CEO of TVA Group, in the press release.
“There was a significant decrease in the Broadcasting segment’s negative adjusted EBITDA. Ongoing integration of the Évasion and Zeste channels into the segment continued to make a positive contribution to our specialty channel business, improving both our financial results and the range of our content offerings. Even though the Montreal Canadiens failed to advance to the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs, TVA Sports registered a slight increase in market share and higher advertising revenues than in the same quarter of 2018,” continued Lauzière’s statement.
“While our specialty channels performed well and posted growth, it must be kept in mind that they have been short changed for years on their fair market value. That is particularly true of LCN and TVA Sports. While RDS, owned by Bell, and TVA Sports are two comparable sports channels with the same audience share per subscriber, their subscription fees are far from comparable,” she continued.
“Bell must acknowledge the issues facing our entire industry and recognize the fair value of our channels. Since the current system isn’t working, we will continue making our case to the regulatory and governmental authorities and calling for quick action to end this unfair treatment.”
TVA Group’s television market share increased 0.3 points to 40.5%. TVA Network carried seven of the top 10 programs in Quebec during the second quarter of 2019; and once again, La Voix claimed the top spot with an average audience of more than 1.9 million.
