Spanish-language giant TelevisaUnivision said it had to rely on trimming expenses to boost second-quarter profit as the company faces a decline in overall ad revenue as well as monies from subscriptions and licensing.
The owner of the Univision broadcast network said net income increased handily as it worked to cut operating costs and general and administrative expenses. Since CEO Daniel Alegre joined last year, TelevisaUnivision has been working to streamline operations that had previously been siloed by geographic. They company owns media assets in both the United States and Mexico.
Net income increased to $96.2 million in the second quarter, compared to $14.1 million in the year-earlier period. Revenue was off 4%, to $1.21 billion.
“This quarter reflects meaningful progress across our business, driven by a reimagined content strategy that’s beginning to show strategic payoff,” said Daniel Alegre, in a prepared statement. “By taking a holistic view of our investments—across premium scripted, live sports, and multiplatform content—we’re seeing stronger performance and deeper audience engagement.”
TelevisaUnivision has been working to bolster its balance sheet after Alegre took its corporate reins of TelevisaUnivision from Wade Davis, the former Viacom CFO who orchestrated a buyout of Univision in 2020 before merging it with Mexico’s Grupo Televisa in 2022, ceded his CEO role to him. Alegre was president and chief operating officer of Activision Blizzard, which was acquired for $69 billion by Microsoft. Davis remains TelevisaUnivision’s vice-chairman.
The company said advertising revenue fell 5% to $742 million. U.S., advertising revenue dipped 2% to $455 million — still an improvement over the first quarter due to sports viewership.
Revenue from subscriptions and licensing was flat at $443 million. Operations were boosted by consumers subscribing to the premium tiers of ViX, the company’s streaming service. Even so, TelevisaUnivision faced headwinds largely due to a renewal cycle with what the company called “a key distribution partner in Mexico.”
Operating expenses decreased 9% to $812 million.
The company revealed that it now has more than 10 million subscribers to ViX around the world, compared with around 7 million detailed at the end of 2023.
variety.com
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