Advanced Television

Discovery Q2: “Ad revenue increased in every region”

August 3, 2021

Multichannel broadcaster Discovery has reported financial results for the quarter ended June 30th 2021.

David Zaslav, President and Chief Executive Officer of Discovery, commented: “Discovery delivered very strong results this quarter as we executed well amidst a recovering global advertising market. Advertising revenue increased in every region of the globe and accelerated throughout the quarter, particularly in our International segment as revenue increased 70 per cent. Indeed, many key markets such as the UK, Italy, Germany, as well as a number of Latam and APAC markets, all demonstrated a marked resurgence and finished ahead of 2019. We continued to steadily execute in our emerging next generation businesses, with 17 million paying direct-to-consumer subscribers at the end of the quarter, and 18 million as of today. This contributed to 130 per cent revenue growth in the second quarter.

“Our first Summer Olympic Games have thus far been a success, supporting healthy viewing and subscriptions across both our linear and streaming platforms, and underscores the importance of our commitment and investment in marquee IP. We continue to fire on all cylinders, and I am very pleased with our momentum as we work to complete our transformational WarnerMedia transaction,” he added.

Second-Quarter 2021 Financial Highlights

•  Total revenues of $3,062 million increased 21 per cent compared to the prior year quarter, or 18 per cent ex-FX.
– US advertising revenues increased 12 per cent and distribution revenues increased 12 per cent; and
– International advertising revenues increased 88%, or 70 per cent ex-FX, and distribution revenues increased 11 per cent, or 6 per cent ex-FX.

•  Net income available to Discovery was $672 million and diluted earnings per share was $1.01.

•  Total Adjusted OIBDA was $1,117 million.

•  Cash provided by operating activities was $834 million and free cash flow was $757 million.

Operational Highlights

  Ended Q2 with 17 million Direct-to-Consumer Subscribers.

  Generated nearly $400 million of Next Generation Revenues, growth of 130 per cent versus the prior year quarter.

  Completed a successful 2021-2022 US advertising upfront, delivering the largest revenue upfront in the Company’s history, including more than doubling the revenue of Discovery Premiere, our cross-network, cross-platform advertising package, and Discovery Engage, our advanced advertising solution.

  The international linear portfolio delivered its second highest Q2 ever for viewing audiences, behind Q2 2020, which was helped by record PUT levels.

•  For Q2, Discovery was the #1 most-watched pay-TV portfolio in the S among key demographics and the #1 portfolio in all of television for average time spent viewing among women aged 25-54. Additionally, HGTV and ID were the #1 and #2 cable networks respectively among women aged 25-54 in Total Day during Q2.

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