Economic climate dents Atresmedia’s ad revenues in 2022

Spanish TV operator Atresmedia saw revenues decline by 1.6% to €654.4 million for the first nine months of 2022. With tough economic conditions starting to bite, the owner of Antena 3 and La Sexta also saw its gross operating profit dip by 3.1% to €116.6m. In part, this fall can be attributed to a 4.1% decline in TV ad revenues.

On a positive note, the company held on to its position as Spain’s most-watched TV group, with 27.5% for Jan-Sept 2022 compared to 27.3% for the same period in 2021. Average TV consumption per person per day in Spain was 3 hours 9 minutes.

While TV ad revenue slipped, there was a more positive story in digital ad revenue –up 10.7% to 50.2m. This however only accounts for about a tenth of the TV ad total. In the international arena, Atresmedia’s channels registered 63 million subscribers, adding almost 6 million compared to September 2021, an increase of 10%. Less welcome, was a 10.5% drop in content production and distribution revenues.

Looking ahead, the company said: “In a geopolitical and macroeconomic environment such as the current one, it is difficult to establish a plausible forecast for the evolution of the markets that affect our advertising-related activities. We estimate that the TV market will close the year in line with the trend observed until this quarter.”