Discovery “cautiously optimistic” despite decreased revenue
August 5, 2020
Multichannel programmer Discovery has reported financial results for the quarter ended June 30th 2020. Total revenues of $2.54 billion (€2.14bn) decreased 12 per cent compared to the prior year quarter.
US distribution revenues increased 7 per cent, or increased 2 per cent excluding certain non-recurring items, and advertising revenues decreased 14 per cent.
International distribution revenues decreased 2 per cent and advertising revenues decreased 37 per cent.
Total share of viewing across the international portfolio in the second quarter of 2020 improved 4 per cent on average, with strong share growth in India, UK and Italy.
In the second quarter, Discovery said its portfolio of networks in the US gained more share in primetime than any other TV portfolio in each of its target demos. TLC delivered its best quarter in network history and was the top network across all of TV on Sunday nights among W25-54, P25-54 and W18-49, driven by the performance of the 90 Day Fiancé franchise. The network also continues to be the No. 1 destination for women on cable TV in 2020.
David Zaslav, President and Chief Executive Officer of Discovery said: “Our top priority is the health and safety of our employees as global economies and our offices begin to reopen. I want to thank all of our teams for the exceptional focus and dedication even during these turbulent times that continued to drive outstanding progress for our business, including renewals with four of our largest distribution partners and meaningful cost containment. We generated significant free cash flows in Q2, demonstrating the durability of our business, especially against the backdrop of a historic disruption to the global advertising market due to the impacts of the pandemic. ”
“With our significant liquidity cushion and the initial signs of stabilisation that we’re seeing in many of our key markets around the world, we are pleased to announce our intention to resume returning capital to shareholders through share repurchases. We are cautiously optimistic about the global outlook for the rest of the year and firmly believe that the long-term prospects for Discovery remain as vibrant as ever,” he added.