Red Arrow Studios, the production group of the German broadcaster ProSiebenSat.1, achieved a decline in sales of 46 million euros in 2020 after the coronavirus pandemic stopped production worldwide.
Red Arrow’s Kinetic Content landed a big Netflix hit in the form of Love Is Blind, but it was ultimately a troubled year for the production empire amid Covid-19.
ProSiebenSat.1 has postponed plans to sell the company because of the pandemic, while the producer’s CEO, James Baker, was among a number of executive departures. Red Arrow is now monitored by a ProSieben advisory board.
According to ProSieben’s full-year result, Red Arrow’s total revenue fell by 6% from € 730 million in 2019 to € 684 million in the previous year. Adjusted EBITDA fell by 12.6% to € 42 million. Revenue rose in the fourth quarter of last year when revenue reached EUR 235 million, compared to EUR 222 million in 2019.
Related story
BBC Casts “My Name Is Leon”; Red arrow locks CPL; ITV renews ‘Finding Alice’; ITV orders “British Tiger Kings” – Global TV Briefs
ProSieben said: “The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic also had a strong impact here, especially in the second quarter, with the international program production business being particularly hard hit. After program productions in the USA in particular had to be largely suspended or postponed in mid-March, there were still restrictions there as the year progressed.
“As the restrictions on public life were relaxed, the production business recovered slightly in the third quarter and was above the level of the previous year due to catch-up effects in the fourth quarter. The performance in program sales, our global sales business, was also clearly positive for the year as a whole. However, this could not compensate for the decline in the production business in the first nine months of 2020. “
In a broader sense, ProSieben’s 2020 results corresponded to the unaudited results published in January. Consolidated sales amounted to € 4.05 billion and EBITDA to € 706 million. This compared to EUR 4.1 billion and EUR 872 million in 2019.
Comments are closed.