Jul 24, 2020 - Economy

Verizon Media's revenue hit hard by coronavirus pandemic

Sara Fischer

A Verizon store in New York. Photo: Alex Tai/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

Verizon Media said Friday that its revenue dropped 24.5% year-over-year in the second quarter to $1.4 billion amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Why it matters: Verizon was counting on its media unit to bring in billions of dollars of ad dollars and compete with the likes of Google and Facebook. It was already struggling to make that a reality even before the pandemic hit.

Catch up quick: Verizon Media, formerly Oath, was created in 2017 through roughly $10 billion in acquisitions of companies like AOL and Yahoo.

In late 2018, Verizon wrote down about half of that investment.
Its latest earnings suggest it is nowhere near its previously stated goal of bringing in $10 billion annually from the division.
The company said that Verizon Media "has continued to drive increased customer engagement on its owned and operated properties" in its earnings release, but didn’t describe much else.

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Verizon Media's revenue hit hard by coronavirus pandemic

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