Five posts 21m loss
CHANNEL Five posted a £20.8m loss in 2008, as the advertising downturn and the cost of servicing debt hit the terrestrial broadcaster.
The RTL-owned firm made revenues of £344.4m in the 12 months to December, but costs dragged it to a £9.1m pre-tax loss. An additional £11.6m charge for “unused tax losses” exacerbating the Neighbours broadcaster’s woes. The post-tax £20.8m loss was significantly larger than the £4.9m loss of the previous year.
Five’s chair and chief executive Dawn Airey – whose salary was not disclosed in records filed at Companies House – has led a cost-cutting drive which has seen a quarter of the broadcaster’s 290 staff laid off.
Looking ahead, the firm said it would commission new content to increase audience numbers.
Like competitors ITV and Channel 4, Five has struggled against plunging advertising revenues and change within the industry as viewers fragment across a range of media.