Univision Reports Revenue Increased 8%, Radio Flat

Univision Communications Inc.today announced financial results for 1Q ending March 31, 2020.

Continuing Operations Results - First Quarter 2020 Compared to First Quarter 20191

• Revenue increased 8% to $660.4 million from $611.9 million.
• Income from continuing operations was $11.7 million compared to $36.9 million.
• Adjusted OIBDA increased 23% to $251.1 million from $204.3 million.

“As our company confronts the current global health crisis, our teams developed and executed a strong employee safety plan while continuing to provide an essential service of informing and entertaining our communities. Our news and entertainment content is experiencing high demand and our service continues uninterrupted at a time when our community depends on us the most.

"Furthermore, we’ve taken measures to strengthen our balance sheet and maintain the health of our company to manage through the impact of this global crisis,” said CEO Vince Sadusky.

“Prior to the crisis, we achieved continued ratings momentum in the important February sweeps period, where we not only expanded our share lead over competitors but with an 18% portfolio ratings growth we also ranked as the fastest growing portfolio of networks in the country, regardless of language. This momentum has continued through the crisis driven by our strong news and entertainment content. As our content strategy propelled our growth across platforms, Univision also enjoyed operational and financial momentum during the quarter with an eight percent increase in
revenue and twenty-three percent increase in Adjusted OIBDA.”

Revenue

• Revenue for the first quarter 2020 increased 8% to $660.4 million compared to $611.9 million for the same prior period.  Core revenue for the first quarter 2020 increased 5% to $634.6 million compared to $606.2 million for the same prior period.
• Revenue for Media Networks segment for the first quarter 2020 increased 9% to $609.3 million, compared to $560.6 million for the same prior period. Media Networks advertising revenue for the first quarter 2020 decreased 2% to $280.3 million, compared to $287.0 million for the same prior period.
• Media Networks core advertising revenue which adjusts for political and advocacy, including the 2020 election, decreased 8% to $259.4 million from $283.1 million. The decrease was primarily due to declines in our networks and local television businesses due to live sports cancellations and lower volume commitments in March due to COVID-19, partially offset by an increase due to improvement in our ratings and price increases. This decline was partially offset by increases in digital. Within Media Networks, combined local and network TV business core advertising revenue decreased 10%, while our digital business core advertising revenue was up 25%. Political and advocacy revenue was $20.9 million in 2020 compared to $3.9 million in the same prior period.

Radio

• Revenue for Radio segment for the first quarter 2020 remained essentially flat at $51.1 million, compared to $51.3 million for the same prior period. Advertising revenue for the Radio segment for the first quarter 2020 remained flat at $48.8 million in both periods.
• Core advertising revenue for our Radio segment decreased 7% to $43.9 million from $47.0 million primarily due to declines in ad spending in the retail sector. Political and advocacy revenue was $4.9 million compared to $1.8 million in the prior period.
• Non-advertising revenue for the Radio segment for the first quarter 2020 decreased to $2.3 million from $2.5 million for the same prior period.