Corus Entertainment’s fiscal 2025 Q1 results revealed an 11% decrease in television revenue from the same period in fiscal 2024.

For the three months prior to Nov. 30, 2024, Corus recorded $303.6 million in television revenue, compared to $342.4 million in the previous Q1. Television segment profits declined 29% to $85.9 million from $121.7 million, which co-CEO and CFO John Gossling in the earnings call attributed primarily the contraction of advertising demand as well as lower subscription and distribution, production and other revenue exceeding savings from the company’s cost reduction initiatives.

According to the report, television advertising revenues experienced a 16% decrease to $176.6 million from $209.3 million in Q1 2024. Subscriber revenues only dropped 2% to $115.7 million, while distribution, production and other revenues saw a 24% decrease to $11.2 million from $14.9 million. The subscriber revenue decline was attributed to declines in the traditional linear business. Fewer episode deliveries and reduced service work were given as the reason for declines in distribution production and other revenues.

The company expects the year-over-year advertising revenue declines to continue in Q2 2025, attributed to the continued oversupply of digital inventory from foreign competitors as well as the continued decline of demand for linear advertising. However, the report notes those decreases were partially mitigated by increases in the packaged goods and iGaming categories.

Overall revenue also saw a decline of 12% to $327.2 million from $369.9 million in fiscal 2024. Similarly, the company’s net income attributable to shareholders declined 64% to $11.9 million from $32.7 million.

“Persistent industry wide advertising trends had a significant impact on our television advertising demand in the first quarter, as we expected,” said Gossling during the earnings call. He attributed the overall revenue results to these trends combined with the slightly lower subscription revenue. However, co-CEO Troy Reeb noted strong advertiser interest and audience demand following the Dec. 30, 2024, launch of Flavour and Home which includes series such as Carnival Eats (Alibi Entertainment) and Great Chocolate Showdown (Nikki Ray Media Agency, pictured) for Flavour; and Pamela’s Garden of Eden (Fireworks Media Group) and Renovation Resort (McGillivray Entertainment Media) for Home.

Corus’ net debt to segment profit was 4.48 times as at Nov. 30, 2024, up from 3.84 times from Aug. 31, 2024. As of Nov. 30, 2024, the company’s debt stands at $$1.07 billion, increased from $1.04 billion at the end of August. In October 2024, Corus secured an agreement to extend its debt agreement to March 31 and to decrease its revolving facility to $150 million from $300 million.

“Since John [Gossling] and I became co-CEOs last June, we have been squarely focused on right-sizing the company,” said Reeb. “While you heard a lot initially about headcount reductions, including a reduction of almost half of our executive officers, our ongoing efforts are now more focused on ensuring that all product lines can generate positive margins and have cost structures in line with their revenue potential.”

In its financial outlook, Corus predicts its general and administrative expenses will decline between five and 10% for the second quarter compared to the prior year due to continued implementation of cost reduction initiatives. The company had cut nearly 800 employees by August 2024.

Image courtesy of Corus Entertainment