Revs fall year-on-year but Discovery claims Q3 improvement
Details
Joseph O'Halloran
| 06 November 2020
As it attempts to deal with what it says are macroeconomic uncertainty with the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic as well as the continuing evolution of the industry, media giant Discovery has posted a mixed third quarter with annual declines in revenue but with an increase in profits.
discovery 6 august 2019
For the quarter ended 30 September 2020, the company reported total revenues of $2.561 billion, a decrease of 4% compared with the same quarter in 2019 and down 5% ex-FX. While US distribution revenues increased 2% annually, US Q3 advertising revenues decreased 8% compared with 2019. Non-US distribution revenues decreased 4% on an annual basis and advertising revenues decreased 9%, both ex-FX. The revenues drove net income to $300 million and total adjusted OIBDA decreased 15% year-on-year to $954 million, or decreased 14% ex-FX.

Looking at operational highlights in the quarter, Discovery noted that in Q3 its total share of viewing across the international portfolio in the third quarter of 2020 improved 5% on average compared with a year earlier, with strong growth in the UK, Germany, Italy and Norway. Additionally, it said that Q3 marked five consecutive quarters of year-over-year share improvement.

In addition, Discovery's portfolio of networks was said to have accounted for 4 of the top 5 cable networks during Total Day in the third quarter among key women demos, including HGTV, ID, TLC and Food Network, and gained more share in Primetime than any other TV portfolio. TLC in the US was said to have beaten top-rated sports and news networks in coveted primetime demos.

Commenting on the third quarter results, Discovery president and chief executive officer David Zaslav said that what was revealed for the three-month period was a testament to the appeal of the firm’s content and brands. He added: “Our healthy liquidity position and another robust quarter of free cash flow generation allowed us to return $228 million to shareholders through share repurchases. In the midst of macroeconomic uncertainty with the ongoing Covid pandemic, as well as the continuing evolution of our industry, we remain focused on positioning Discovery for long-term growth and shareholder value creation through the