TVA Groupe fared better than many other broadcasters on the advertising front in Q1, but the growth was overshadowed by ongoing challenges in the company’s production division.

The company reported a 5.8% decline in revenue during the three months ended March 31, as a 1.6% year-over-year increase in broadcast revenue was not enough to make up for major declines in its production, distribution and magazine segments.

The uptick in the broadcasting segment came from a 4.7% increase in ad revenue, including a 17.8% in digital revenue, for the TVA network, as well as a 8.4% increase in ad revenue at TVA Sports. Revenue from the TVA+ streaming service was also up 33% year-over-year.

There was, however, a 3.4% decrease in ad revenue at the company’s non-sports specialty channels, as well as a 2.8% decrease in subscription revenue.

The company’s share of TV audiences in Quebec remained roughly stable year-over-year, which kept it at the top spot ahead of CBC, Bell Media and Corus.

Pierre Karl Péladeau, acting president and CEO of TVA Group, said in a statement that while the ad revenue increase came as a result of the company’s ongoing investment in content, its fortunes remain “uncertain” due to the current economic situation an “uneven playing field” with large digital companies and the government-subsidized CBC, both of which are frequent talking points for the media exec.

“While the recent passage of Bill C-11 is a step in the right direction, we continue to urge governmental authorities to act quickly on the other outstanding issues before it is too late,” Péladeau said. “For example, the CRTC must take urgent action to address Radio-Canada’s unfair behaviour in scooping up advertising dollars, which are our over-the-air network’s only source of revenues, as well as distributor Bell TV’s highly prejudicial treatment of our specialty channels by continuing to pay below-market fees. Parliament must also act quickly to pass [the Online News Act] and ensure that the use of our news content is recognized and paid for at fair value by the digital giants that are currently siphoning advertising dollars away from Canadian businesses.”

Revenue was down 26.2% in TVA’s film production and audiovisual services segment, including a 58.8% decline in equipment and soundstage rentals and a staggering 77% decline in visual effects services. Though there were slight increases in post-production and media accessibility services, Péladeau said a lack of international productions being done in Quebec is leading to the declines.

Revenue was also down in TVA’s distribution segment, though Péladeau attributed that to the division being focused on finalizing projects that began last year.

Finally, TVA’s magazine segment had a 10.5% decline in revenue, due to a mix of low advertiser demand, dips in subscriptions and changes to funding from the Canadian Periodical Fund.