TelevisaUnivision Q4 earnings: Revenue boosted by World Cup, ViX increases
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Spanish-language media giant TelevisaUnivision reported a 22% rise in pro-forma revenue for the fourth quarter in 2022, boosted by its 2022 FIFA World Cup coverage and midterm political ad spending.
The company also reported audience figures for its VX streaming service for the first time, citing more than 25 million monthly active users on the free, ad-supported tier. (It did not release numbers for the ViX+ subscription tier.) According to TelevisaUnivision, this makes ViX the largest Spanish-language streamer in the world.
TelevisaUnivision, which was formed in January 2022 through the merger of Televisa and Univision Communications, reported a net loss of $1.6 billion for Q4. That included a $1.7 billion non-cash impairment charge, primarily on its goodwill, which it said was “driven by the impact of general market conditions, including comparable market valuations and a rising interest rate environment.” 2022 relating to the Company’s impairment, goodwill, TV broadcast licenses, tradenames and program rights being written.
“One year ago we created TelevisaUnivision to become the largest Spanish-language media company
world,” CEO Wade Davis said in announcing earnings results. “We have executed a strategy to build a business without comparison, and our excellent results in 2022 demonstrate the strength of our combined company.”
The growth and profitability of the company’s core business outweighed the investment in VX, Davis said. “We continue to expect ViX to reach profitability by the end of 2023 due to the strength of the combined assets in the US and Mexico,” Exci said.
Operating expenses increased 32% to $949 million in Q4, reflecting investments in ViX, including new original premium content, sports rights, marketing and technology. For the fourth quarter, TelevisiUnivision’s adjusted operating income before depreciation and amortization (OIBDA) increased 5% on a forma basis, to $504 million.
The company’s ad revenue rose 10% to $850 million in the quarter. TelevisiUnivision said it was driven by strong upfront sales in both the US and Mexico, as well as scatter pricing and volume growth. In the US, Q4 ad revenue grew 14%, reflecting growth in both linear and streaming, benefiting from the World Cup as well as record midterm political revenue. In Mexico, World Cup advertising revenue increased by 9% compared to the previous World Cup.
