The job cuts of around 800 jobs are available a turbulent 12 months for the Toronto-based television and radio broadcaster, which has been suffering from declining promoting revenues, regulatory challenges and licensing disputes.
On Monday, Corus reported a loss attributable to shareholders of $769.9 million for the most recent quarter, compared with a lack of $495.1 million a 12 months earlier, as revenue fell 16 percent. The company’s third-quarter revenue was $331.8 million, compared with $397.3 million a 12 months earlier.
The decline was on account of television revenues falling 17% to $308.2 million within the quarter from $371.2 million a 12 months earlier, while radio revenues fell 9.9% to $23.6 million from $26.2 million a 12 months earlier.
“We are making difficult decisions by closing businesses that we can no longer sustain and pausing longer-term development activities while we implement efficiency initiatives,” said co-CEO John Gossling during a conference call with analysts.
“Our plan is to emerge as a smaller but more profitable company with a sustainable future.”
Inflation and other aspects have affected promoting revenue
Corus attributes this 12 months’s promoting slump partially to the aftermath of Hollywood strikes in 2023 that delayed production of major programs, in addition to inflation and competition issues.
In May, Canada’s broadcasting regulator approved the corporate’s request to chill out a few of its spending requirements on Canadian content after it warned of an increasingly dire financial situation. The CRTC noted that a Corus exit from the Canadian broadcasting landscape “would significantly limit Canadian viewers’ content choices.”
Then last month, the corporate was hit by the lack of year-end rights to key brands equivalent to HGTV, Food Network, Cooking Channel, Magnolia Network and OWN.
