Widening TVA Group’s net loss

TVA Group’s net loss in the first quarter of 2023 increased due to lower revenue from subsidiary Quebecor.

Accordingly, on Monday, the company regretted a net loss of $23.5 million for the first months of the year, compared to a loss of $13 million in the corresponding quarter of 2022.

More broadly, TVA Group reported total revenue of $136.1 million for the first months of the year, down $8.4 million from a year ago.

“Our first-quarter results continue to be impacted by lower profitability affecting all of our business segments,” TVA Group interim President and CEO Pierre-Carl Pelado explained in a press release.

The company particularly deplored the decline in the profitability of the TVA network and the group’s specialized channels. However, TVA Sports cut its net loss thanks to higher revenue and lower expenses, which minimized bad news from other channels.

In February, TVA Group and other Quebec affiliates announced layoffs of about 240 employees.

“Although the restructuring plan announced on February 16th has been implemented, our cost-cutting measures, although they did not reach their full potential during this period, were not sufficient to offset the impact of the challenges faced by the various industries in which we operate, Mr Péladeau admitted.

The entrepreneur deplored, once again, the competition put forth by Société Radio-Canada, which is largely subsidized by the state, and the web giants, who do not have the same requirements for producing Canadian content as the companies here.

“We must fight with disproportionate weapons against these players who take a large share of advertising revenue, further weakening Quebec’s media and our existing television ecosystem,” said Mr. Pelado.