Spanish-language media giant TelevisaUnivision saw a 22% jump in pro-forma revenue for the fourth quarter in 2022, boosted by its 2022 FIFA World Cup coverage and midterm political ad spending.
The company also for the first time reported audience figures for its ViX streaming service, touting more than 25 million monthly active users on the free, ad-supported tier. (It didn’t release numbers for the ViX+ subscription tier.) According to TelevisaUnivision, that makes ViX the world’s largest Spanish-language streamer.
TelevisaUnivision, which was formed through the January 2022 merger of Televisa and Univision Communications, reported a net loss of $1.6 billion for Q4. That included a $1.7 billion non-cash impairment charge, primarily on its goodwill, which it said was “driven by the impact of general market conditions, including comparable market valuations and the rising interest rate environment.” The company’s impairment loss in 2022 related to the write-down of goodwill, TV broadcast licenses, tradenames and program rights.
“A year ago we created TelevisaUnivision to become the largest Spanish-language media company in the
world,” CEO Wade Davis said in announcing the earnings results. “We executed a strategy to create a business without comparison, and our stellar results in 2022 demonstrate the power of our combined company.”
The growth and profitability of the company’s core business more than offset the investments it made in ViX, Davis said. “The power of the combined assets in the U.S. and Mexico cause us to continue to expect ViX to reach profitability by the end of 2023,” the exec said.
Operating expenses grew 32% in Q4, to $949 million, reflecting investments in ViX, including new original premium content, sports rights, marketing and technology. For the fourth quarter, TelevisaUnivision’s adjusted operating income before depreciation and amortization (OIBDA) grew 5% on a pro-forma basis, to $504 million.
The company’s advertising revenue increased 10% to $850 million overall in the quarter. TelevisaUnivision said that was driven by strong upfronts sales in both the U.S. and Mexico as well as growth in scatter pricing and volume. In the U.S., Q4 ad revenue increased 14%, reflecting growth in both linear and streaming, benefiting from the World Cup as well as record midterm political revenue. In Mexico, World Cup advertising revenue was up 9% relative to the prior World Cup.
