Discovery sees Olympic boost with subscriber and ad revenue up in Q2

Discovery Inc said it set a new company record for subscriber sign-ups thanks to its bumper rights European rights deal for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. The US network, which earlier this week was rumoured as a possible acquirer of the UK’s Channel 4 if its privatised, has the broadcast rights sewn-up with the Olympics and it resold some coverage to the BBC. Whilst the deal has proved controversial due to less live Olympic coverage for the British public broadcaster, it has evidently been a roaring commercial success for Discovery. Discovery, which released quarterly results in America on Tuesday, said its coverage has so far seen more than 275mln viewers in Europe – including 175mln via its sub-licences to free-to-air broadcasters like the BBC. Around 10% more people have watched the Olympics compared to the 2018 winter games, it added. Like its broadcast rivals Disney and Warner, the group is pushing a direct-to-consumer streaming service and according to its second quarter results subscribers totalled 17mln at the end of June, and rose to 18mln presently as the Olympics continue. “Our first Summer Olympic Games have thus far been a success, supporting healthy viewing and subscriptions across both our linear and streaming platforms, and underscores the importance of our commitment and investment in marquee IP,” Discovery chief executive David Zaslav said in a statement. The rise in D2C subscriptions was among the drivers in a 130% increase in what Discovery calls ‘next generation revenues’ which totalled US$400mln for the three months.  Group revenue, meanwhile, was up 21% to US$3.06bn for the quarter whilst net income came in at US$672mln versus US$271mln in the same period a year ago. Discovery also highlighted strong advertising performances in each of its regions, with Zaslav telling investors that ad revenues accelerated through the second quarter which he said marked resurgence in key markets back above pre-pandemic levels.