TV revenues up 5% for Corus in Q2

An uptick in TV ad spending continued to be the main driver, with overall revenues hitting $353.5 million.

doug murphy picture 2

Corus Entertainment continued on an upward trajectory in its Q2 financials as strong TV ad revenues propelled the company to 4% overall growth.

For the quarter ending Feb. 28, overall revenues increased to $384.1 million, up from $369.5 million a year prior.

Within that, quarterly TV revenue was up 5% to $353.5 million, due primarily to an 11% increase in TV ad revenue, which climbed to $211.3 million from $190.2 million a year ago. President and CEO Doug Murphy (pictured) partly attributed the uptick to a growing number of digital advertisers migrating onto TV.

The significant growth on the TV advertising side was offset slightly by a 1% decline in subscriber numbers (which Corus attributed to last year’s shuttering of Sundance Channel) and a 13% drop in merchandising and distribution. Meanwhile, quarterly profit was up 10% to $113.7 million.

On the radio side, segment revenues dipped 8% to $30.6 million, down from $33.2 million a year ago.

The past six weeks has seen a number of significant announcements at Corus, including a structural change that sees its TV, radio and digital platforms reorganized under the newly created “broadcast networks” umbrella, the launch of a 24-hour Adult Swim channel in Canada, the sale of its majority stake in Telelatino Network and the full acquisition of Kin Canada’s operations. Earlier this week, Corus also greenlit three new unscripted series from McGillivray Entertainment, Scott Brothers Entertainment and Sonar Entertainment.

During an investor call Corus execs noted the continuing expansion of its slate of kids originals, with 15 projects currently in production or greenlit. Among those are The Dog & Pony Show and Agent Binky: Pets of the Universe, which are both produced through Nelvana and Discovery’s joint venture, Red Knot.