TVA Group posted a net loss of $8 million in the first quarter of 2017, compared with a net loss of $7.4 million for the same period in 2016.

The broadcasting and production segment posted growing ad revenues, with year-over-year increases of 15.9% at TVA Sports, 8.3% at TVA’s other specialty services and 3.3% at TVA Network.

TVA Sports benefited from the performance of the Montréal Canadiens during the NHL regular season. According to Numeris numbers from TVA, during the 2016/17 regular season, Saturday night games saw an increase of 7% in viewership year-over-year (an average audience of 695,000 per game, up from 645,000), as well as a 6% increase for pre-game shows (an average audience of 103,091 viewers) and 25% for post-game shows (209,048 viewers).

Revenue for TVA’s broadcasting and production segment was $110.7 million for the quarter compared with $105.9 million for the same period in 2016.

The company’s magazine segment continued to decline in the first quarter. Revenue for the segment was $21.4 million compared with $27.4 million for the same period in 2016. A release on the quarterly report said the company will be continuing to work to reduce operating expenses in the division, as well as relaunching its leading brands under new segment VP Lyne Robitaille.

Revenue for TVA’s film production and audiovisual services was down for the quarter, coming in at $11.5 million compared with $15.5 million for the same period in 2016. That was due to a drop in the soundstage and equipment rental business, which had been exceptionally busy in the first quarter of 2016 with series like Quantico and additional scenes for X-Men Apocalypse being shot during the period.

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