TVB reduces losses due to recovery in advertising income

Local broadcaster TVB has reduced its first-half net loss by 65% from a year ago to HK$143 million, driven by a 21% surge in advertising income.

According to the official announcement on HKEX, TVB’s digital advertising income jumped 39% as more advertisers took advantage of the reach of its myTV SUPER platform, which had two million monthly active users during the period.

However, the total group revenue fell by 3% from HK$1.56 billion to HK$1.51 billion, as revenue growth in its core TV-related businesses was offset by the decline arising from the downsizing of its eCommerce business segment.

The overall OTT segment revenue also declined by 4% during the same period, which the company attributed to adjustments made to the bundling arrangements with its telco partners.

Nonetheless, the group achieved positive EBITDA of HK$47 million, representing a HK$233 million improvement compared to the EBITDA loss of HK$186 million in the same period last year. This marks the group’s return to positive EBITDA for the first half period since 2019.

Looking ahead, TVB said while Hong Kong’s advertising market remains difficult, it expects its advertising business to grow further in 2024, as it continues to demonstrate to advertisers the value and reach of its TV platforms, including in the Greater Bay Area.

Digital advertising revenue, notably in its OTT segment, is primed for further growth in the second half of 2024, as the group continues to strengthen its lower-tier and mobile service offerings to boost viewership and advertising revenue opportunities.

TVB’s Mainland China (MCN) operations segment logged a 22% year-on-year revenue increase, reaching HK$383 million. The growth was mainly driven by its drama co-production business, where revenue more than doubled during the period. The surge in drama co-production revenue was attributed to TVB's expanded co-production deals with its two key platform partners, Youku and Tencent Video.

Furthermore, TVB further expanded its presence in the Greater Bay Area (GBA) market during the period. Since its Jade and Pearl channels saw over 27 million average monthly viewers in Guangdong province, it launched new cross-border advertising products that aimed to enable its advertising clients on both sides of the border to reach these audiences.

Don't miss: TVB to cut 300 jobs, reduce number of free channels to 4

Back in November 2023, TVB laid off over 300 staff and restructured its TV broadcasting and eCommerce businesses, by merging two channels and two eCommerce platforms. 

TVB said it will continue to optimise its operating cost, including in content and other areas, over the remainder of 2024. On top of reductions already made in 2023, it expects to reduce its total costs by a further 8 to10% this year, other than in areas such as drama co-production where costs will rise as a result of increased business volume.

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