TelevisaUnivision’s third quarter divided neatly along the U.S.-Mexico border. In the U.S., advertising revenue fell 24 percent and total revenue declined 14 percent to $715 million. In Mexico, advertising revenue rose 19 percent and total revenue jumped 51 percent to $665 million, lifted by the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
The swing came down to sports rights. In the U.S., Telemundo held the Spanish-language rights and games for the 2026 tournament, which ran from June 11 to July 19. That put TelevisaUnivision up against a rival’s event in its home market and a prior-year comparison that included the Gold Cup. In Mexico, TelevisaUnivision carried the tournament, and it flowed through both linear TV and ViX.
The U.S. sports calendar flips into a headwind
Total U.S. ad weakness more than offset Mexico’s growth: company-wide ad revenue still declined 5 percent to $717 million. U.S. subscription and licensing revenue also slipped 4 percent to $372 million because of lower content licensing revenue, partly cushioned by price increases in ViX’s premium tiers.
For media planners, the quarter is a clean case study in how quickly sports rights can move Spanish-language budgets. The audience does not necessarily disappear; it follows the tournament to whichever network owns the local-language rights.
Mexico and ViX ride the tournament
Mexico was the counterweight. Total revenue in the market rose 51 percent to $665 million, and advertising revenue grew 19 percent. Subscription and licensing revenue in Mexico climbed 156 percent to $268 million, helped by World Cup-driven content licensing and ViX premium-tier growth. The company also recorded roughly $90 million from sublicensing World Cup rights across Spanish-speaking Latin American countries.
The streaming story was the bright spot. TelevisaUnivision said its DTC business delivered record revenue with double-digit year-over-year growth, fueled by ViX during the quarter.
The cost line and the write-down
Growth came with a bill. Operating expenses rose 14 percent to $918 million, or 11 percent excluding foreign-exchange effects, driven mainly by World Cup rights and production costs. The company posted an operating loss of $119 million, swinging from a $265 million operating profit a year earlier, after a $372 million non-cash impairment tied to the write-down of television broadcast licenses.
Key numbers from the quarter:
- U.S. advertising revenue: down 24 percent
- Mexico total revenue: up 51 percent to $665 million
- Total company revenue: up 9 percent to $1.4 billion
- Operating loss: $119 million
Adjusted operating income before depreciation and amortization was $461 million, just below $467 million a year earlier.
CEO Daniel Alegre called the quarter “disciplined execution against our multiplatform strategy.” The real takeaway is less about the headline loss than about the map: one tournament created a 24 percent U.S. ad decline and a 19 percent Mexico ad gain. Buyers and streamers should treat those two markets separately and put the rights calendar into the plan before the next major event moves.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
