TelevisaUnivision Gets Q4 Revenue Kick From World Cup but Takes $1.7 Billion Impairment Charge, ViX Free Streamer Tops 25 Million Users

variety.com:

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Spanish-language media giant TelevisaUnivision saw a 22% jump in pro-forma revenue for the fourth quarter in 2022, boosted by its 2022 FIFA World Cup coverage and midterm political ad spending.

The company also for the first time reported audience figures for its ViX streaming service, touting more than 25 million monthly active users on the free, ad-supported tier. (It didn’t release numbers for the ViX+ subscription tier.) According to TelevisaUnivision, that makes ViX the world’s largest Spanish-language streamer.

TelevisaUnivision, which was formed through the January 2022 merger of Televisa and Univision Communications, reported a net loss of $1.6 billion for Q4.

That included a $1.7 billion non-cash impairment charge, primarily on its goodwill, which it said was “driven by the impact of general market conditions, including comparable market valuations and the rising interest rate environment.” The company’s impairment loss in 2022 related to the write-down of goodwill, TV broadcast licenses, tradenames and program rights. “A year ago we created TelevisaUnivision to become the largest Spanish-language media company in theworld,” CEO Wade Davis said in announcing the earnings results. “We executed a strategy to create a business without comparison, and our stellar results in 2022 demonstrate the power of our combined company.” The growth and profitability of the company’s core business more than offset the investments it made in ViX, Davis said. “The power of the combined assets in the U.S.