SCA revenues and profits down in tough TV and radio market

Tim Burrowes

February 19, 2013 2:15

Southern Cross Austereo – owner of the Today Network and Triple M radio stations along with the Southern Cross regional TV network – saw a fall in profits in the second half of 2012.

According to an update to the ASX today, the company saw revenues fall by nearly 10% to $327m for the half year. As a result, underlying profits before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation were down 15% to $64.9m.

The drop in revenues appeared to be as a result of tough markets across the board. Regional TV revenues were down by 16.5%, while regional radio was down by 1.8%. The metro radio business saw revenues fall by 6.1%.

The network acknowledged that the death of British nurse Jacintha Saldanha following a prank call had led to a “metro radio share loss exacerbated by on-air incidents”. However, it said that continuing financial impact of this was “immaterial”.

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Tim Burrowes

Tim Burrowes is the publisher of Mumbrella and Unmade. He co-founded Mumbrella in 2008 and sister title Unmade in 2021. He's worked in the UK, Middle East, Asia & Australia and has specialised in writing about the communications world for the last 25 years. He wrote the book Media Unmade, published in 2021, and became the presenter of MediaLand on ABC Radio National in 2025.