U.S. Political Advertising Helps Boost Q3 for TelevisaUnivision

Gains in U.S. advertising revenue and the sale of a set of broadcasting towers helped Spanish-language giant notch increase profits in the third quarter, after the company changed its top executive in September.

The broadcaster, which owns the Univision broadcast network in the U.S., said net income increased to $180.9 million in the third quarter, compared with $46.4 million in the year-earlier period. TelevisaUnivision said a sale of assets during the period resulted in a gain of more than $160 million.

The company also indicated its direct-to-consumer operations, which include the ViX streaming service, have become profitable after launching two years ago.

“We are at a critical juncture in our evolution, and we will be laser-focused on integrating our legacy companies into a unified global entity, said Daniel Alegre, the company’s new CEO, in prepared remarks. “Our goal is to evolve into a content-first, platform-agnostic organization that connects with audiences wherever they engage.”

Alegre took the reins of the company after Wade Davis, the former Viacom CFO who orchestrated a buyout of Univision in 2020 before merging it with Mexico’s Grupo Televisa in 2022, ceded his CEO role to him. Alegre was president and chief operating officer of Activision Blizzard, which was acquired for $69 billion last year by Microsoft. Davis remains as the company’s vice-chairman.

TelevisaUnivision said overall revenue rose 2% to $1.3 billion, despite headwinds in the company’s Mexico operations. In the U.S., political advertising drove a 5% uptick in overall ad revenue, while subscription and licensing revenue rose 6%. In Mexico, ad sales fell by 1% while subscription and licensing revenue were off 12%.

Operating expenses grew 1% to $878 million, driven by investments in ViX, an expansion of third-party advertising sales business in Mexico, and higher sports-related costs tied to Copa America in both U.S. and Mexico and the Olympics in Mexico.