TelevisaUnivision Quarterly U.S. Ad Revenue Drops 29 Percent, But World Cup Boosts Mexico Results
Spanish-language media giant TelevisaUnivision reported a 29 percent U.S. advertising revenue drop and an 11 percent total U.S. revenue decline to $722 million in the second quarter when NBCUniversal’s Telemund...
Spanish-language media giant TelevisaUnivision reported a 29 percent U.S. advertising revenue drop and an 11 percent total U.S. revenue decline to $722 million in the second quarter when NBCUniversal’s Telemundo, its rival, featured the Spanish-language rights and games as part of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
The U.S. ad results reflected softness in its advertising business, with the big Gold Cup and FIFA Club World Cup tournaments in the U.S. having boosted the year-ago results. “While cyclical headwinds in the U.S. advertising persist in the third quarter, reflecting broader macroeconomic trends and a competitive sports calendar on competitor networks, our underlying business remains solid,” Daniel Alegre, CEO of TelevisaUnivision, told analysts during a late morning conference call.
Alegre forecast the current third quarter U.S. advertising business to be “consistent with the second quarter trend.” The firm will look to revenues from American midterm political ads targeting Hispanic voters and peaking in the fourth quarter to help offset overall cyclical softness in the U.S. advertising market.
“We know the Hispanic vote will be determinate” during the U.S. midterm elections,” especially in California and Texas, Alegre added. He also argued Hispanic voters have largely not yet decided on whom to place their votes, giving TelevisaUnivision a big opportunity with political advertising leading up the November elections.
In Mexico, advertising revenue increased 23 percent to $353 million, driven by 104 FIFA World Cup matches streamed on the ViX platform. “The tournament reinforced why soccer remains such an important pillar of our broader sports strategy,” Alegre added in comments to analysts. The TelevisaUnivision financial results follow news rival Telemundo has secured the exclusive U.S. Spanish-language media rights to all UEFA men’s club competitions for three years, starting with the 2027-28 campaign.
Against those rights going to Telemundo, Alegre pointed to TelevisaUnivision recently announcing new and renewed rights to South American soccer competitions, including for the CONMEBOL
Libertadores and CONMEBOL Sudamericana games. The Spanish-language media firm also renewed CONCACAF’s Gold Cup and Nations League rights.
Total company revenue in the second quarter grew 10 percent to $1.3 billion, “driven by 53 percent growth in Mexico following a record-breaking FIFA World Cup performance that reached 675 million total viewers across linear and [streamer] ViX,” said TelevisaUnivision. But its operating Income dropped to $224 million from $241 million, while adjusted OIBDA of $388 million was down from $398 million in the year-ago period.
Total quarterly subscription and licensing revenue jumped 40 percent to $621 million, driven by around $90 million in revenue from sublicensing the FIFA World Cup rights in other Spanish-speaking Latin American countries, and expanding the ViX premium tier and higher linear distribution revenue. In the U.S., subscription and licensing revenue grew 8 percent to $377 million, due to growth in ViX’s premium tiers and a partnership with Hulu Live TV and higher average rates. In Mexico, the category grew 157 percent to $245 million on strong content licensing revenue and growth in ViX’s premium tier.
Operating expenses increased 16 percent, or 11 percent when excluding foreign exchange impacts, mainly driven by sports costs associated with the FIFA World Cup, the firm said. The higher expenses hit the bottom line.