TVB narrows loss by 36% thanks to growth in ad sales

Local broadcaster TVB has reduced its net loss by 36% from a year ago to HK$491 million, driven by a 21% surge in advertising income.

According to the official announcement on HKEX, TVB’s Hong Kong TV broadcasting segment achieved 17% revenue growth, with income from advertisers increasing by 14% as it continued to win back large corporate advertisers to its TV platforms.

Outside of traditional TV, the reach and earnings contribution of TVB’s digital media assets also grew further in 2024. Digital advertising on myTV SUPER streaming service grew by 30%, and it had over 23 million average monthly active users in 2024 across its Hong Kong digital assets including TVB.com, TVB News mobile app and TVB-related social media accounts, an increase of 81% compared to 2023.

While in mainland China, TVB has recorded a 17% revenue increase, driven mainly by its drama co-production business, which saw a 69% growth in revenue due to expanded co-production activity with its mainland video platform partners Youku and Tencent Video. 

Overall, in 2024, TVB recorded a positive EBITDA of HK$295 million, representing a HK$435 million improvement compared to the EBITDA loss of HK$140 million last year. It expects the EBITDA for the full year of 2025 to be significantly higher than last year's.

In terms of costs, TVB said the total operating costs in 2024 fell by 15% compared to 2023, to HK$3,279 million in 2024, as it continued to streamline content production and reduce overheads. Notably, in 2024 TVB reduced its self-operated terrestrial TV channels from five to four by merging its J2 and TVB Finance, Sports & Information channels to create the new TVB Plus channel; and downsized its eCommerce business by closing the Ztore platform.

Don’t miss: TVB expects double-digit growth in ad sales for 2024

Looking ahead, TVB said while Hong Kong’s advertising market remains soft due to the overall economic environment, it continues to see the return of large corporate advertisers to its TV platforms. During its "early-bird" campaign at the end of last year, the total precommitments secured from clients for the 2025 advertising packages exceeded the previous year by a double-digit percentage, serving as a robust indicator of the anticipated growth in advertising income for 2025.

Starting in January 2025, TVB has also begun selling advertising on TVB Jade and Pearl channel broadcast feeds to Guangdong province, reflecting the new commercial agreement with its carriage partner there. It is offering new solutions to advertising clients to reach the sizeable and valuable Greater Bay Area market (GBA). Given the positive response so far from the market, TVB expects this new initiative to contribute meaningfully to its advertising income this coming year.

Meanwhile, TVB expects digital advertising on its myTV SUPER streaming service to keep growing strongly in 2025 as it has rolled out new ad-supported free service tiers to further boost viewership.

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