TVA Group suspends dividend to pay for new channels

Quebec broadcaster TVA Group on Monday posted higher second quarter earnings, but will still suspend its dividend to pay for new channels, including its Sun News 24 hour all-news channel.

TVA posted earnings of $13.8 million, compared with $11.7 million in profits in the second quarter of 2010.

At the same time, the Quebec broadcaster is pouring money into new channels like Sun News, a new sports channel, TVA Sports, to launch next month, and Mlle, a female-skewing French-language specialty.

So the broadcaster has suspended its shareholder dividend to divert money into the new ventures.

Second quarter revenues came to $117.5 million, against a year-earlier $110.9 million.

TVA-parent Quebecor Media last spring launched Sun News, which is 51% controlled by TVA Group and 49% by Sun Media Corporation.

The launch of the news channel meant shuttering Quebecor Media’s former Sun TV over-the-air TV station in Toronto.

After that move, TVA Group recorded during the second quarter a one-time impairment expense of $3.43 million to write down the value of Sun TV’s programming inventory.