As he began to discuss his privately held company’s fiscal results for the first quarter of 2025, TelevisaUnivision CEO Daniel Alegre offered affirmational words, noting that the largest Spanish-language content creation and distribution company on Earth delivered “strong operational execution” across the first three months of 2025.
While this resulted in adjusted OIBDA growth and “sustained momentum against our strategic priorities,” domestic revenue declined 4% as total revenue for its Mexico operations slumped by 23%.
In prepared comments, Alegre spoke of how the continued evolution of TelevisaUnivision in 2025 means the executive leadership team is “driving tighter alignment and integration between our teams in the U.S. and Mexico.” This, he said, will create “a more agile and efficient organization.”
Naturally, Alegre pointed to OTT platform ViX and its continued growth. ViX has enjoyed an outsized role across TelevisaUnivision Upfront presentations since 2023 and while this has enabled the multimedia company to execute a more robust cross-platform strategy, Alegre added, “Our focus on streamlining our business operations will improve operating margins, and we remain committed to deleveraging and strengthening our balance sheet.”
That balance sheet needs some extra Tajín and perhaps a Red Bull. The only bright spot was domestic subscription and licensing revenue, which rose 5% from Q1 2024.
On a consolidated basis, revenue declined to $1.024 billion from $1.149 billion as the company swung to net income of $11.7 million, from a net loss of $52 million seen in Q1 2024.
U.S. revenue declined 4% to $709 million, or 1% excluding the Super Bowl.
In the U.S., advertising revenue decreased 11% to $354 million as growth in DTC advertising revenue was offset by linear softness and the absence of the prior year’s broadcast of the Super Bowl. Excluding the Super Bowl, U.S. advertising revenue declined 6%.
Meanwhile, TelevisaUnivision reports that its leverage ratio, or net debt to OIBDA, was 5.8x as of March 31, 2025, compared to 5.9x as of December 31, 2024.
