Discovery has posted total revenues of $2,541 million for the second quarter, a 12% reduction on the corresponding period last year.
Its net income was 71% lower at $271 million.
Discovery’s International Networks saw their ad revenues slump by 41% year-on-year in Q2 to $276 million, while distribution revenues fell by 6% to $486 million. In the US, ad revenues fell by 14% to $997 million, while distribution revenues increased by 7% to $739 million.
Commenting on the results, David Zaslav, president CEO of Discovery, said: “Our top priority is the health and safety of our employees as global economies and our offices begin to reopen. I want to thank all of our teams for the
exceptional focus and dedication even during these turbulent times that continued to drive outstanding progress for our business, including renewals with four of our largest distribution partners and meaningful cost containment. We generated significant free cash flows in Q2, demonstrating the durability of our business, especially against the backdrop of a historic disruption to the global advertising market due to the impacts of the pandemic. With our significant liquidity cushion and the initial signs of stabilisation that we’re seeing in many of our key markets around the world, we are pleased to announce our intention to resume returning capital to shareholders through share repurchases. We are cautiously optimistic about the global outlook for the rest of the year and firmly believe that the long-term prospects for Discovery remain as vibrant as ever”.
