Discovery Q2 Revenues Down 12 Percent

Overall revenues at Discovery, Inc. fell by 12 percent to $2.5 billion in the second quarter, with net income dropping by 71 percent to $271 million.

“Our top priority is the health and safety of our employees as global economies and our offices begin to reopen,” said David Zaslav, president and CEO. “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 stabilization 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.”

At the U.S. networks, revenues fell by 6 percent to $1.7 billion. Advertising was down 14 percent to $997 million, driven by a decline in demand stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as “secular declines in the pay-TV ecosystem and lower inventory.” Distribution revenues rose 7 percent to $739 million. At June 30, 2020, subscribers to Discovery’s fully distributed networks were 5 percent lower than the prior year.

At the international networks, revenues dropped by 23 percent to $783 million, with ad revenues falling by 41 percent to $276 million and distribution revenues slipping by 6 percent to $486 million.