During the first quarter of 2022, BBTV Holdings saw its total revenue decline slightly and its net loss rise compared to the same period last year.
In Q1, BBTV, the holding company behind Vancouver-based media tech firm BroadbandTV, generated total revenue of nearly $99 million CAD in Q1, representing a year-over-year decrease of seven percent. BBTV also posted a net loss of $12.5 million—up 39 percent from the $9 million it lost in the first quarter of 2021.
BBTV has seen views dip as lockdowns have subsided and consumer consumption has changed.
BBTV attributed this overall decline in revenue to a dip in views and revenue per one thousand views (RPMs) that has come as COVID-19 lockdowns have subsided and consumer consumption patterns have changed. According to BBTV, this decrease was partially offset by a rise in the company’s plus solutions revenue.
The Vancouver firm is far from the only tech company to see its growth decline or losses widen in Q1 as pandemic forces wane. New York-based, Nasdaq-listed video software solution Vimeo, which like BBTV also caters to content creators, recently saw its stock price drop 17 percent following the release of its first-quarter earnings, after reporting a nearly $27 million USD loss. In the content streaming space more broadly, Netflix has been hit hard in the public markets since sharing that it has lost subscribers this year.
At the same time, BBTV has also seen some positive signs. Shahrzad Rafati, BBTV’s chairperson and CEO, touted the 69 percent first-quarter growth of the company’s plus solutions revenue, which is higher margin than the firm’s other revenue streams. According to Rafati, this year-over-year rise was fuelled by strong uptake from “major media brands,” and follows BBTV’s recent investments in its plus solutions categories.
Founded in 2005 by Rafati, BBTV allows partners to distribute, manage, and monetize video content through its end-to-end platform. The company serves independent content creators and media companies, enabling them to grow their presence online.
BBTV trades on the TSX as ‘BBTV.’ Following the release of its Q1 earnings, BBTV’s stock has dropped about 9 percent. The company’s share price has fallen nearly 78 percent over the past year to $1.82 CAD at time of publication, far below its 52-week high of $8.40—which the company reached around this time last year.
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BBTV has also been impacted by the broader public tech stock selloff. Valuations of publicly-traded tech firms have dropped significantly in recent months amid rising inflation, interest rates, and Russia-Ukraine-related geopolitical tensions.
The company’s plus solutions categories include content management, direct advertising sales, and mobile gaming apps, each of which grew by over 40 percent year-over-year during the first quarter. The rise BBTV saw in its plus solutions revenue was accompanied by a 13 percent decrease in its base solutions revenue.
Going forward, BBTV anticipates that its plus solutions annual revenue growth will exceed 40 percent during 2022—nearly double the company’s previous annual growth rate guidance of 23 percent.
In particular, BBTV sees opportunity in monetizing the YouTube Shorts format, which is not currently monetized, despite accounting for 20 percent of BBTV’s Q1 views.
Feature image courtesy BBTV.