In the three months ended June 30, BuzzFeed reported revenues of $77.9 million, down 27 percent from the second quarter of 2022, but within the company’s guidance.
This came as advertising revenue declined 33 percent year-over-year to reach $35.4 million, with the company citing increased competition for ad dollars and audience time, while content revenue fell 22 percent to $31.5 million. Commerce and other revenues fell 17 percent to $11 million as the metaverse event ComplexLand took place a year ago and did not repeat this quarter.
Amid downsizing the organization, with the shuttering of BuzzFeed News, overall cuts of about 15 percent of its workforce and plans to reduce its real estate holdings, the company reported a second quarter net loss of $27.8 million, wider than a net loss of $23.6 million a year ago, but less than the $36.3 million net loss reported last quarter. BuzzFeed reported an adjusted EBITDA loss of $0.1 million for the second quarter, slightly missing their prior guidance of $0 to $4 million, but compared to adjusted EBITDA of $2.1 million in the second quarter of 2022.
“The strategic and organizational changes we discussed at our Investor Day in May have been fully executed, putting our rich library of IP and scaled, owned-and-operated properties at the center of our operating model to create innovative, audience-driven content,” said BuzzFeed CEO Jonah Peretti.
However, time spent, which estimates the total number of hours spent by users on the company’s platforms, including content on Apple News and on YouTube, fell 9 percent year-over-year to 96 million hours, with Peretti calling out “consolidation” among the “major platforms” as one reason for lower traffic. In his investor letter, Peretti specifically mentioned Facebook and “other major tech platforms” saying that their prioritization of vertical video has led to fewer traffic referrals to BuzzFeed content.
To combat that, the company is again emphasizing AI and its creator programs. In January, Peretti said that BuzzFeed would begin to embrace more “AI inspired content,” including Infinity Quizzes and Chatbot Games, which became a larger part of the company starting in March. The company has now doubled its output of AI-assisted content from Q1 to Q2, and expects to keep up that rate into Q3. Additionally, BuzzFeed continues to prototype new generative AI formats.
Peretti said BuzzFeed will also continue to “rapidly” expand its creator program, which puts together influencers and advertisers to make content. BuzzFeed now says it has close partnerships with more than 180 creators as well as a “much larger, extended network of hundreds of creators.”
“In response to consolidation and share gains across the major platforms that continue to impact audience traffic to our content, we are laser focused on our strategy to drive traffic directly to our owned-and-operated properties. We have introduced new AI-assisted content formats to increase engagement and offer innovative advertising opportunities to our clients, rapidly expanded our creator network to participate in the rise of vertical video, and prioritized destination news content to grow our HuffPost front page audience,” Peretti said in the press release.
The company, which also owns the YouTube interview show Hot Ones, highlighted the success on that channel, including the interview with Jennifer Lawrence which reached more than 100 million viewers across platforms, as well as the food network Tasty, which recently launched an AI-bot to help users find recipes or cooking tips.
For the third quarter, BuzzFeed expects revenues of $73 million to $78 million and an adjusted EBITDA of a $1 million loss to $4 million profit.
"Hollywood" - Google News
August 09, 2023 at 04:44AM
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BuzzFeed Advertising Revenue Declines Amid Increased Competition - Hollywood Reporter
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