He says his company is “building a digital media and content powerhouse” — namely thanks to the strength of its Crave OTT streaming platform. For Mirko Bibic, President/CEO of Bell Media parent BCE, “strong results” seen in 2025 were tied to this strategic priority.
But, how did BCE perform in the fourth quarter? Operating revenue was flat, while Free Cash Flow tumbled.
BCE’s operating revenues were statistically flat in Q4, moving to $6.404 billion CDN from $6.422 billion CDN.
This, BCE said, reflects a 15% decline in product revenue to $965 million; it was partly offset by 2.9% higher service revenue of $5.439 billion CDN.
While revenue was largely unchanged from the final three months of 2024, adjusted net earnings declined by 10.6% to $643 million CDN ($0.69 per share CDN), from $719 million CDN ($0.79 CDN).
And yet, adjusted EBITDA grew to $2.664 billion CDN from $2.61 billion CDN.
Alas, Free Cash Flow was down by 74%, to $225 million CDN from $874 million CDN.
Honing in on Bell Media, home to the CTV network and owned stations; iHeartRadio-operated radio stations such as Windsor’s “89X” and “Virgin Radio”; and Toronto-centric all-news brand CP24, operating revenue decreased 3.4% in Q4 to $804 million CDN. It cited lower year-over-year advertising revenue as the chief culprit.
Advertising revenue was down 11.1% in Q4, compared to the same period last year. Madison & Wall’s Brian Wieser noted in an investor communiqué that this mirror’s the decline seen in Q3 2025, and that when adjusting for the sale of Bell Media radio stations in 2025, advertising revenue declines were likely closer to 9% in Q4 2025.
