New budget cuts could occur within the TVA Group, warns Pierre Karl Péladeau. The president and CEO of Quebecor is not ready to part with the company, which recorded significant financial losses at the start of the year.
“We cannot say that there will not be [de compressions]. Will there be? Yes, probably as time passes, “he said Thursday evening in an interview with Gérald Fillion on the show. Economy zone, on ICI RDI. The businessman was invited on the set to talk about his recent acquisition of Freedom Mobile, which allowed Quebecor to become the fourth largest wireless service provider in Canada. The host, however, took the opportunity to question him about the future of the media group.
Quebecor had announced its financial results for the first quarter of 2023 a little earlier; its Groupe TVA subsidiary recorded a drop in revenues of $8.4 million compared to the previous year. The CEO of the conglomerate explained this decline in profitability, among other things, by competition from Web giants, which monopolize 80% of advertising revenues, but also by that of Radio-Canada, which benefits from public funding.
“We will not be able to live with losses like those we experienced in the first quarter. There is no company that can live with permanent losses,” said Mr. Péladeau during the interview, assuring however that he did not want to part with TVA Group.
Recall that Quebecor has already abolished 240 positions last February, including 140 within the TVA Group, due to significant financial losses in the last quarter of 2022 due, among other things, to the declining profitability of TVA and TVA Sports.
Questioned in particular on the TVA Sports channel, Mr. Péladeau indicated that its closure was not in the plans “for the moment”. He said he was waiting for an “arbitration decision” pending at the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC). Quebecor is embroiled in a dispute with Bell over the amount paid by the distributor to gain access to TVA Sports. In the opinion of the entrepreneur, this decision will be “decisive for the future of TVA Sports”.
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