DHX sees Q1 revenue decline, ups VOD ante in China

DHX Media's revenue declined by 16% in Q1 2017, despite a 5% rise in total distribution sales. A new deal that sees DHX licensing 2,400 half hours to various Chinese VOD services should keep the distribution momentum going.

November 15, 2016

Fiscal 2017 has been off to a slow start for DHX Media, with the Canadian company reporting revenue of US$39.9 million in Q1, down 16% from US$47.4 million last year.

DHX largely attributed the decrease to seasonal fluctuations and production schedules, which are expected to ramp up towards the second half of the year.

Proprietary production revenue dropped by 15% to US$2.6 million in Q1, with DHX adding 35 half hours of original content to its library in the quarter, compared to 39 in Q1 2016.

Television revenue decreased by 18% to US$11.5 million from US$13.9 million last year, mainly due to DHX’s transition away from its content supply agreement with Disney. DHX noted that subscriber revenues accounted for roughly 90% of its total TV revenue.

Consumer products revenue from DHX’s proprietary IPs saw a 22% decline to US$2.7 million. Sales from the 2016 Big Ticket Summer Concert Tour were US$0.48 million compared with revenue of US$0.91 million for the 2015 concert tour. CP revenue generated by representing third-party properties was also down 12% to US$4.4 million.

These losses were partially offset, however, by growth from DHX’s multiplatform kids network WildBrain, which officially launched in April. WildBrain revenue increased 68% to US$4.4 million in Q1 2017. Including WildBrain, total distribution revenue was up 5% to US$10.9 million. Excluding WildBrain, however, distribution revenues decreased to US$6.5 million from US$7.8 million in the same quarter last year.

And continuing on the distribution front, DHX has announced deals with five VOD services in China, sending more than 2,400 half hours of preschool and children’s content to the region.

The deals cover 19 series, including Teletubbies, Caillou, Yo Gabba Gabba! and Twirlywoos (pictured).

Shanghai Media Group licensed 986 half hours for its Best TV and SiTV platforms, SVOD service Mango picked up 468 half hours, PPLive licensed 519 half hours for its SVOD, YouKu Tudou licensed 390 half-hours and iQiyi bought 51 half hours, adding to the 400 half hours the online entertainment service picked up in November of last year from DHX.

From Playback.