TORONTO — The owner of the Global broadcast TV network and a variety of cable television channels including Canadian versions of History, Adult Swim, National Geographic and Disney Channel continued to experience a downturn in core advertising, with the loonies and twonies down sharply from last year.
Nevertheless, segment profit growth was seen for both the Radio and TV units, helping to lower a big net loss.
The latest quarterly fiscal report marks another tough three-month period for Corus Entertainment, which unveiled its fiscal Q2 2026 financial results early Friday, ahead of the TSX’s Opening Bell.
For investors, it is more of the same, as shares of CJR-B were trading in the midday hours at just $0.03 CDN.
For CEO John Gossling, the fiscal Q2 results “reflect improved profitability, primarily driven by programming schedule timing, the absence of certain one‑time costs incurred in the prior year, and ongoing cost‑containment initiatives.”
Gossling added that, “despite continued industry and macroeconomic pressures on linear advertising demand,” Corus is making “meaningful progress on initiatives that build on the strength of our leading brands, content, and client offerings.”
Corus is also pleased that it is “moving expeditiously” into the next phase of its recapitalization transaction, which is critical to strengthening a very shaky financial foundation.
For the three months ending February 28, 2026, television revenue fell by 16%, to $212.43 million CDN, as radio revenue was off by 4% to $17.75 million CDN.
Fueling the TV revenue decline is a 21% year-over-year advertising revenue dip, to $102.33 million CDN. Cross-category declines were seen, with consumer brands, health and beauty, retail, government, and packaged goods all down.
What didn’t help, either, was a 12% decrease in Subscriber revenue, to $98.85 million CDN.
Offsetting those losses was a 8% increase in distribution, production and other revenue, to $11.25 million CDN.
While TV revenue was down, there was segment profit. The same can be said for the Radio unit that includes such heritage audio brands as CILQ “Q107” and CFNY “102.1 The Edge” in Toronto.
This helped greatly reduce Corus’ adjusted net loss to $7.83 million CDN (-$0.04 per share), from $42.73 million (-$0.21).
The biggest issue for Corus, however, is its Free Cash Flow. In fiscal Q2 2026, it collapsed, falling 97% to $1.26 million CDN from $46.02 million CDN.
Then, there is Corus’s net debt to segment profit, which was 6.70 times as of February 28, 2026, up from 6.01 times at August 31, 2025. This, Corus explained, is a result of the decrease in segment profit and an increase in the amount drawn under the revolving credit facility, offset by lower lease liabilities.
