The job cuts of around 800 jobs come in a turbulent year for the Toronto-based television and radio broadcaster, which has been plagued by declining advertising revenues, regulatory challenges and licensing disputes.
On Monday, Corus reported a loss attributable to shareholders of $769.9 million for the latest quarter, compared with a loss of $495.1 million a year earlier, as revenue fell 16 percent. The company’s third-quarter revenue was $331.8 million, compared with $397.3 million a year earlier.
The decline was due to television revenues falling 17% to $308.2 million in the quarter from $371.2 million a year earlier, while radio revenues fell 9.9% to $23.6 million from $26.2 million a year earlier.
“We are making difficult decisions by closing businesses 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 factors have affected advertising revenue
Corus attributes this year’s advertising slump in part to the aftermath of Hollywood strikes in 2023 that delayed production of key programs, as well as inflation and competition issues.
In May, Canada’s broadcasting regulator approved the company’s request to relax some 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 company was hit by the loss of year-end rights to key brands such as HGTV, Food Network, Cooking Channel, Magnolia Network and OWN.
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