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Southern Cross Austereo bullish after TV revenue jumps 31% in first quarter

Southern Cross Austereo has maintained its profit guidance for the first half of the year after revenues climbed 12% in the first quarter.

southern cross austereo

Speaking at the firm’s annual general meeting today, chief executive Grant Blackley said metro advertising revenue increased 5% compared with the previous corresponding period while TV revenues saw a sharp rise of 31%.

The increase reflects the “landmark” affiliate deal that SCA signed with Nine in April.

Under the terms of the new agreement, which started on July 1, SCA will pay Nine 50% of its ad revenues to rebroadcast its content in regional areas in Queensland, Southern NSW and Victoria.

Despite a decline in the regional TV east coast market of 0.4%, Blackley reiterated previous guidance of full year total TV ad revenue growth of 30% to 35%.

SCA also maintained its half-year earnings forecast of $92m to $94m.

Regional radio revenues in the first quarter saw a 3% lift which was “unsurprisingly” outpaced by national advertising, SCA said.

“We continue to focus on addressing the historic underinvestment in regional areas by national clients,” Blackley said.

Blackley told Mumbrella in August that, despite the importance of the Nine affiliate deal, radio is ‘under done’ and critical to the business.

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