For the three months ending September 30, Spanish Broadcasting System saw lower year-over-year operating results. But, as the company explained late Wednesday with the release of its Q3 2023 report, there were two key reasons for the decline.

First, Chairman/CEO and founder Raúl Alarcón Jr. shared, is the company’s investment in talent and content for both its terrestrial and digital media properties.

Then, there are the dollars put into digital infrastructure and capabilities, personnel and its recently created digital marketing department, “Digidea.”

Also a factor: a $2.3 million payment in Q3 2022 related to a 2020 business interruption insurance claim.

This all played a role as net revenue from continuing operations declined to $35.01 million from $38.05 million, while a non-cash impairment charge of $43.58 million fueled a net loss of $32.54 million (-$4.17 per share). In Q3 2022, net income of $906 million ($0.16) was seen with no impairment charge.

Station Operating Income fell to $10.03 million from $13.96 million as adjusted OIBDA declined to $6.69 million from $10.45 million.

As Mega TV had been on target for its sale to VOZ Media, the television division is listed as a discontinued operation. However, the sale failed to close by its contractually agreed-upon date, leading SBS to sue VOZ Media. As that matter winds through the courts, SBS shared that Mega TV net revenue in Q3 declined to $1.68 million from $3.22 million but that an income tax benefit translated to income of $6.28 million — a shift from a Q3 2022 loss of $386,000.

“The company continues to pursue the sale of these television and real estate assets,” SBS confirmed. But, it added, “There can be no assurance that the sale of these assets will be completed promptly or at all.”

In prepared comments, Alarcón said, “Moving forward, our strategy is clear – to build upon our strength by creating and nurturing winning brands, attracting the most popular content creators and driving growth across our entire asset base while continuing to fuel profits through disciplined cost containment and margin expansion. I will state with confidence that we’ve never been in a stronger position to benefit from our relationship with what many are calling the New American Mainstream as we are all witnessing the inevitable reality of a Hispanic America that is here to stay.”