Olympics hit TV3 in pocket

By SIMON HENDERY

TV3's profits for its Canadian owner slumped in the three months to November 30 as the New Zealand dollar weakened and viewers deserted the channel to watch the Olympics.

The broadcaster's parent company, CanWest Global Communications, yesterday reported TV3 and TV4's net profit for the quarter was down $C345,000 ($510,000) from $C4.7 million ($7 million) during the same period last year.

CanWest said its New Zealand operation had been stung by an 18 per cent fall in the value of the kiwi over the period.

The fall in the currency had reduced earnings before interest, tax depreciation and amortisation by $C5 million.

TV3 and TV4's combined revenue for the quarter fell from $C22.6 million to $C16.9 million.

Operating profit from the group's local radio interests, the More FM and RadioWorks networks, were up from $C1.5 million to $C3.9 million after CanWest bought a controlling stake in RadioWorks during the year.

The head of CanWest's New Zealand operations, Brent Impey, said that although the next quarterly result would also be soft, he expected a pick-up in TV3's earnings during the March-to-May quarter.

The network had been hit by the flight of viewers watching the Sydney Olympics broadcast by state-owned rival, Television New Zealand.

But recent tweaking of TV3's content had led to an increase in average primetime viewer share from 21 to 24 per cent.

CanWest reported a total operating profit for the quarter of $C108 million, up from $99 million.