Spanish-language media giant TelevisaUnivision reported a 2 percent U.S. revenue gain to $835.5 million for the fourth quarter of 2024 and a 5 percent U.S. subscription and licensing revenue improvement to $346.5 million.
The company, led by CEO Daniel Alegre, said that its streaming business with its flagship service ViX posted another profit in the fourth quarter of 2024 after achieving profitability in the third quarter “after just two full years in the marketplace.” After having ended 2023 with more than 7 million subscribers and $700 million in annual revenue, “the direct-to-consumer (DTC) business generated $1 billion in revenue and positive adjusted operating income before depreciation and amortization (OIBDA) in ViX’s second full year of operation,” the company highlighted on Thursday.
José Luis Fabila is now leading all content globally for the company as part of an Alegre-overseen reorganization and reduction of its workforce by a mid- to high-single-digit percentage, which was unveiled late last year. TelevisaUnivision disclosed restructuring, severance and related charges of $53.4 million for the fourth quarter, compared with $24.2 million in the year-ago period. For the full year 2024, these charges amounted to $72.9 million, compared with $53.4 million in 2023.
Revenue in the fourth quarter declined 1 percent, but grew 4 percent when excluding foreign-exchange impacts, to $1.3 billion, with the U.S. growth outweighed by a 5 percent drop in Mexico, which amounted to an 8 percent gain when excluding currency impacts. Operating expenses were “essentially flat” at $892 million. The firm’s quarterly loss narrowed to $809.7 million from $912.1 million in the year-ago period.
TelevisaUnivision’s quarterly adjusted operating income before depreciation and amortization (OIBDA), another key profitability metric, declined 3 percent to $451.9 million in the fourth quarter, or grew 3 percent when excluding currency impacts.
The company also disclosed a quarterly charge for the impairment of program rights of $142.5 million, compared with $157.1 million in the fourth quarter of 2023, as well as an impairment loss of $900.2 million for the full year 2024, compared with $1.01 billion in 2023. Both impairment charges are non-cash charges recorded as a result of regular testing of the company’s assets and do not impact its OIBDA, leverage or cash position.
Advertising revenue fell 1 percent in the final quarter of 2024 to $851 million as the U.S. gain to $475.6 million was outweighed by a 4 percent drop in Mexico. Excluding the impact of foreign exchange rates, Mexico advertising revenue grew 10 percent.
Full-year 2024 U.S. advertising revenue growth “accelerated to 2 percent, driven by a record-breaking year in sports and political advertising demand garnering $70 million,” the firm said.
“2024 was a year of continued momentum for TelevisaUnivision, and my early days at the helm have reinforced the tremendous opportunity ahead of us,” said Alegre, the former president and COO of Activision Blizzard and CEO of Yuga Labs who took over as TelevisaUnivision CEO in September: “The recent U.S. election cycle underscored the power and influence TelevisaUnivision has to deliver the Hispanic vote through our reach and connection with the community.”
He added: “With our newly unified organizational structure, we are fully harnessing the strengths of Univision in the U.S. and Televisa in Mexico to drive further connectivity and expand our impact as a global content leader.”