TVA Group posted a net loss of $8 million in the first quarter of 2017, compared with a net loss of $7.4 million for the same period in 2016.

The broadcasting and production segment posted growing ad revenues, with year-over-year increases of 15.9% at TVA Sports, 8.3% at TVA’s other specialty services and 3.3% at TVA Network.

TVA Sports benefited from the performance of the Montréal Canadiens during the NHL regular season. According to Numeris numbers from TVA, during the 2016/17 regular season, Saturday night games saw an increase of 7% in viewership year-over-year (an average audience of 695,000 per game, up from 645,000), as well as a 6% increase for pre-game shows (an average audience of 103,091 viewers) and 25% for post-game shows (209,048 viewers).

Revenue for TVA’s broadcasting and production segment was $110.7 million for the quarter compared with $105.9 million for the same period in 2016.

Revenue for TVA’s film production and audiovisual services was down for the quarter, coming in at $11.5 million compared with $15.5 million for the same period in 2016. That was due to a drop in the soundstage and equipment rental business, which had been exceptionally busy in the first quarter of 2016 with series like Quantico and additional scenes for X-Men Apocalypse being shot during the period.

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From Media in Canada