TelevisaUnivision CEO Wade Davis says advertisers “feel like they have more options” due to the influx of ad-supported streaming outlets of late.
As a result, it is “taking a little longer” for his sales team to conclude the upfront process, Davis added, he doesn’t see that delay having a material downside given strong trends in pricing in the scatter market. Unlike upfront inventory, scatter ads are bought much closer to the airdate of programming, offering advertisers more flexibility but generally at a higher cost.
The exec’s remarks came during TelevisaUnivision’s second-quarter earnings call. The privately held Hispanic media company earlier Tuesday reported a 2% uptick in advertising revenue in the U.S. to $462.4 million during the quarter. The ad performance paced a 3% rise in total company revenue to a shade less than $1.3 billion, but adjusted operating income before depreciation and amortization (OIBDA) fell 3% to $362 million.
“The influx of streaming into the marketplace this year is having an impact on the market,” Davis said. He didn’t name names, but the streaming sector has seen Amazon’s Prime Video launch advertising on original programming this year, following the debut of ads on Netflix and Disney+ in late-2022. Free, ad-supported streaming television, or FAST, is also in a boom phase with outlets like Fox Corp.’s Tubi registering gains. TelevisaUnivision’s Vix has two tiers, one with ads (Gratis) and the other ad-free (Premium).
“Many advertisers are looking at the availability of inventory in the scatter market and that’s changing the way they think about the mix,” Davis said.
“The market as a whole is probably going to be flat to down, but I think we’re going to outperform the market,” he added.
Vix is expected to turn a profit in the second half of 2024, TelevisaUnivision execs reasserted during the call.
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