Entravision Communications Corporation (EVC): 5 FORCES Analysis [Nov-2025 Updated]

You're looking at Entravision Communications Corporation right now, and honestly, the picture is sharply divided-it's a classic tale of two companies under one roof. As of late 2025, the legacy Media segment is clearly struggling, evidenced by that 26% revenue drop in Q3, which is putting pressure on everything from suppliers to customer leverage. But here's the kicker: the Advertising Technology & Services (ATS) engine is roaring, posting a 104% revenue surge in the same quarter, showing real traction with its digital investments. This dynamic means the near-term risk isn't just about rivals like Telemundo; it's about whether the high-growth ATS business can outrun the structural decline in broadcast, which is where the real supplier and substitute threats lie. Dive into the five forces below, and we'll map out exactly where the real power sits in this shifting landscape.

Entravision Communications Corporation (EVC) - Porter's Five Forces: Bargaining power of suppliers

You're looking at Entravision Communications Corporation's supplier landscape, and honestly, it's a mixed bag. Some key partners hold significant sway, while others are losing ground as Entravision Communications Corporation invests in self-sufficiency. Let's break down the forces influencing your cost structure and operational flexibility.

TelevisaUnivision holds high power as the key content affiliate for the US Media segment. This relationship is central to Entravision Communications Corporation's broadcast operations. Under the proxy agreement, TelevisaUnivision has the right to negotiate the terms of retransmission consent agreements for substantially all of Entravision Communications Corporation's Univision- and UniMás-affiliated television station signals. This covers the bulk of that retransmission consent revenue stream. The current affiliation and proxy agreements are set to expire on December 31, 2026. Furthermore, Entravision Communications Corporation pays TelevisaUnivision certain sales representation fees relating to all advertising sales for its Univision- and UniMás-affiliate stations. That level of control over content and a major revenue component definitely keeps their leverage high.

Global cloud computing costs are growing for the ATS segment, increasing infrastructure supplier leverage. For the Advertising Technology & Services (ATS) segment, which saw revenue increase 104% in Q3 2025 year-over-year, the underlying infrastructure costs are a growing concern. Management noted in Q2 2025 that infrastructure costs, primarily cloud computing, were growing at a slightly higher pace than the segment's revenue growth. While the expectation is for these costs to eventually grow slower than revenue as the business scales, the near-term trend shows increasing supplier leverage in this critical technology area.

Here's a quick look at how the segments are performing, which frames the impact of these supplier dynamics:

Broadcast tower and transmission infrastructure providers have moderate power due to high switching costs. Securing physical transmission assets often involves long-term contracts and significant capital expenditure to replace, which inherently raises switching costs for Entravision Communications Corporation. This structural barrier grants these infrastructure providers a moderate level of bargaining power, even if specific contract terms aren't publically detailed for 2025.

Content creators for local news have low power due to Entravision's doubled local news production initiative. To counter reliance on external content sources for its local focus, Entravision Communications Corporation has made a clear strategic investment. As of Q1 and Q2 2025, the company confirmed it has doubled its local news production over the preceding year. This internal investment in content creation, alongside hiring additional local salespeople, is designed to serve audiences locally and drive revenue. This move directly reduces the relative power of smaller, external local content providers.

The supplier power dynamics can be summarized by these key dependencies and actions:

• Retransmission consent negotiation power rests with TelevisaUnivision through December 31, 2026.
• Cloud infrastructure costs for ATS are currently outpacing revenue growth.
• Entravision Communications Corporation has doubled its internal local news production capacity.
• Corporate expenses were reduced by 9% in Q3 2025 compared to Q3 2024, showing internal cost control efforts.

Entravision Communications Corporation (EVC) - Porter's Five Forces: Bargaining power of customers

When looking at Entravision Communications Corporation (EVC), you see two very different stories playing out, which means the bargaining power of their customers swings wildly depending on which division you are analyzing. You have to treat the Media segment and the Advertising Technology & Services (ATS) segment as separate entities when assessing buyer leverage.

Media Segment: High Customer Leverage

In the traditional Media segment-think broadcast radio and television advertising-the customers, particularly the large national advertisers, hold significant sway. The financial results from the third quarter of 2025 clearly show this pressure. For the quarter ending September 30, 2025, the Media segment net revenue dropped by a substantial 26% year-over-year, falling to $44.5 million. This decline was explicitly blamed on weaker revenue from national television and radio advertisers, alongside lower political revenue. This revenue contraction is the clearest signal that buyers are dictating terms or simply spending less with Entravision Communications Corporation.

The power dynamic here is classic for traditional media. Large national advertisers, who often buy significant inventory, can easily threaten to pull their budgets. They know they can shift those dollars to digital platforms or competitors offering better rates or more targeted reach. To be fair, the local media operations showed resilience, with average monthly advertisers and revenue per average monthly advertiser remaining flat year-over-year in Q3 2025, but the weakness at the national level drags the entire segment down, giving those big spenders the upper hand.

Here are the key indicators suggesting high customer power in the Media segment:

• Media segment revenue declined 26% in Q3 2025.
• Weaker revenue from national television and radio advertisers.
• The segment swung to an operating loss of $3.5 million in Q3 2025.
• Local advertiser metrics were reported as flat year-over-year.

Advertising Technology & Services (ATS) Segment: Low Customer Leverage

Now, flip the script entirely for the ATS segment, which handles programmatic advertising technology. Here, Entravision Communications Corporation appears to have the upper hand, or at least, its customers are showing much less price sensitivity. The ATS segment revenue surged by an impressive 104% year-over-year in Q3 2025, hitting $76.1 million. This growth wasn't just from adding more clients; management noted that investments in AI capabilities and sales capacity helped increase both monthly active advertisers and the revenue per monthly active advertiser.

When a supplier can increase the spend per client while simultaneously growing the client base, it suggests the value proposition of the technology-likely the AI-driven programmatic platform-is strong enough to resist significant rate concessions. The segment's operating profit jumped 378% year-over-year to $9.8 million in Q3 2025, which is a strong indicator that pricing power is tilted toward Entravision Communications Corporation.

Here's a quick comparison of the two segments for Q3 2025:

The contrast is stark. The Media segment's struggles confirm that traditional advertising buyers can easily demand rate concessions or simply walk away. Conversely, the ATS segment's performance, driven by higher spend per client, shows that technology buyers are locked in or see enough incremental value to increase their investment, thus reducing their bargaining power.

The overall picture for Entravision Communications Corporation is one of bifurcation. You're seeing the classic buyer power dynamics of a legacy media business battling for every dollar, while the ad-tech side operates with the stickiness and pricing power of a growing technology service. Finance: draft 13-week cash view by Friday.

Entravision Communications Corporation (EVC) - Porter's Five Forces: Competitive rivalry

You're looking at Entravision Communications Corporation (EVC) navigating a highly competitive landscape, especially as its two main business lines-Media and Advertising Technology & Services (ATS)-face different, but equally intense, competitive pressures. The rivalry in the traditional media space is stark, while the ad-tech arena is a battle of giants.

In the US Spanish-language media market, the rivalry is definitely sharp, primarily against Comcast-owned Telemundo. Telemundo is a massive player, reaching 95% of U.S. Hispanic TV households across 210 markets with its national broadcast network and other platforms. To put that scale in perspective, Telemundo reported leading the Spanish-language broadcast network with 962,000 total viewers in the first quarter of 2025. This puts significant pressure on Entravision's Media segment, which saw its net revenue decline by 26% year-over-year in Q3 2025, falling to $44.5 million from $59.8 million in Q3 2024. That segment even posted an operating loss of $3.5 million for the quarter.

The competition in the global ad-tech space is fragmented and fierce, pitting Entravision's ATS segment against behemoths. We're talking about platforms like Google, whose global advertising business is estimated at a colossal $270 billion, and The Trade Desk, a US$33 billion listed rival. These players compete on scale, data access, and technological sophistication. Still, Entravision's ATS segment is showing impressive resilience, with revenue soaring 104% to $76.1 million in Q3 2025. This growth is directly challenging the incumbents, but the fight for market share remains tough.

When we look at the broader media segment rivals, the competitive set includes large, diversified media groups. While I don't have their specific 2025 revenue figures right now, companies like Nexstar and Sinclair operate across local and national markets, often with broader portfolios than Entravision's focused Hispanic media assets. The pressure from these diversified groups, combined with the secular shift away from traditional broadcast advertising that hit Entravision's Media segment revenue, keeps rivalry high across the board.

The rivalry is actively increasing because Entravision is doubling down on technology to compete, especially with its Smadex platform. Smadex, a mobile Demand Side Platform (DSP) acquired back in 2018, is now being enhanced with AI capabilities. This investment is paying off, as the ATS segment's operating profit jumped 378% year-over-year to $9.8 million in Q3 2025, driven by these AI investments and increased sales capacity. This signals a clear strategic move to fight the ad-tech giants on their own turf, but it also means Entravision must continuously out-innovate rivals who are also pouring resources into AI and data solutions.

Here's a quick look at how the competitive dynamics are reflected in Entravision's Q3 2025 performance:

The competitive environment forces specific strategic responses. You can see the divergence clearly:

• Media segment faces pressure from linear TV dominance and non-political ad weakness.
• ATS segment must compete with Google's $270 billion ad empire.
• Rivals like The Trade Desk (US$33 billion) are also aggressively innovating in identity and open internet solutions.
• Regulatory action against Google, like the EU's €2.95 billion fine, creates market uncertainty but also potential openings for rivals like Entravision's Smadex.
• Entravision's AI investment in Smadex is a direct counter to the tech-heavy rivalry.

The rivalry is definitely playing out as a tale of two companies within one; the legacy media side is struggling against established players, while the tech side is growing rapidly but fighting the biggest whales in the ocean. Finance: draft 13-week cash view by Friday.

Entravision Communications Corporation (EVC) - Porter's Five Forces: Threat of substitutes

The threat of substitutes for Entravision Communications Corporation (EVC) is exceptionally high, driven by the fundamental shift in how audiences consume media and how advertisers allocate budgets. You see this pressure clearly when you look at the stark contrast between the company's two main business lines in the third quarter of 2025.

Very high threat from Over-The-Top (OTT) streaming and video-on-demand services replacing traditional TV viewing is a major headwind for the Media segment. The global OTT market itself is projected to reach $227.29 billion in 2025, growing from $198.07 billion in 2024 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 14.8%. This migration is particularly pronounced in the U.S. Hispanic market, which is central to Entravision Communications Corporation's focus. For Hispanic viewers, streaming now accounts for 55.8% of total TV time, significantly outpacing the 46% for the general U.S. population. This means the core product of the traditional Media segment is being actively replaced by on-demand digital alternatives. The largest segment within this substitute market, OTT Video Advertising, is expected to command a market volume of $207.52 billion in 2025.

Advertisers are following the audience, substituting spend away from traditional radio/TV toward digital channels, which directly impacts Entravision Communications Corporation's legacy business. This substitution dynamic is quantified in the Q3 2025 results:

Audience migration to non-traditional media is the primary driver of the Media segment's revenue decline. As you can see, the Media segment's net revenue fell by 26% year-over-year to $44.5 million in Q3 2025, resulting in an operating loss of $3.5 million. This contrasts sharply with the ATS segment, which more than doubled its revenue to $76.1 million.

Furthermore, global digital platforms like Meta and Google represent a massive substitute threat for Entravision Communications Corporation's ad-tech solutions, even though the ATS segment is growing rapidly. While Entravision Communications Corporation's ATS segment revenue grew 104% to $76.1 million in Q3 2025, these massive platforms command the lion's share of digital spend. For instance, nearly 96% of the Spanish-language online ad spend allocation went via YouTube in Q1 2025, indicating where the largest digital budgets are flowing. This means Entravision Communications Corporation is competing for digital dollars against entities with vastly superior scale and reach in the programmatic space.

The pressure is clear across the board:

• Traditional TV/Radio revenue fell 26% in Q3 2025.
• The Media segment posted a $3.5 million operating loss.
• Streaming drives 55.8% of Hispanic TV time.
• The ATS segment grew revenue by 104% as a countermeasure.

Finance: draft a sensitivity analysis on Media segment revenue decline if streaming adoption hits 60% of Hispanic TV time by Q4 2025 by Friday.

Entravision Communications Corporation (EVC) - Porter's Five Forces: Threat of new entrants

The threat of new entrants for Entravision Communications Corporation varies significantly across its two main operational segments: traditional Media and the rapidly growing Advertising Technology & Services (ATS) unit.

High barrier to entry in the Media segment due to FCC licensing and capital requirements for broadcast infrastructure.

Starting a new traditional broadcast operation, which forms the core of Entravision Communications Corporation's Media segment (which saw net revenue of $44.5 million in Q3 2025), requires navigating substantial regulatory hurdles and capital outlay. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) manages and licenses the electromagnetic spectrum for broadcast television and radio, making spectrum access a primary barrier. New entrants must register through the FCC's COmmission REgistration System (CORES) to conduct business. Furthermore, licensees face mandatory annual obligations, such as the FY 2025 regulatory fee payments due by September 25, 2025. The FCC is aggressive about penalties; payments received after the deadline are assessed a 25% late payment penalty. The sheer cost of acquiring existing licenses or building out the necessary broadcast infrastructure represents a significant initial capital requirement, effectively keeping most small players out of this specific market space.

The financial reality of the traditional media side underscores this barrier, as Entravision Communications Corporation's Media segment net revenue declined 26% year-over-year in Q3 2025, falling to $44.5 million from $59.8 million in Q3 2024, yet the established infrastructure remains a sunk cost barrier for competitors to overcome. This segment reported an operating loss of $3.5 million for Q3 2025.

Low barrier in the digital advertising and services market, but high capital is needed for technology development.

Conversely, the ATS market, where Entravision Communications Corporation generated $76.1 million in net revenue in Q3 2025 (a 104% increase YoY), presents a lower formal barrier to entry, though capital intensity is shifting from physical assets to intellectual property. While the global digital marketing business was valued at nearly $366 billion in 2023, and overall digital ad spend is projected to hit $235.7 billion in 2025, launching a basic digital ad service is easier than buying a TV station. Still, competing effectively demands significant capital for technology development, especially in AI capabilities, which Entravision Communications Corporation cited as a driver for its ATS segment's growth. For instance, the average cost per click (CPC) for Google Ads in 2025 reached $5.26, indicating high competition for audience attention, which requires substantial, ongoing R&D investment to maintain a competitive edge in programmatic platforms.

Here's a quick comparison of the entry dynamics:

Entravision's proprietary platforms, Smadex and Adwake, create a small, temporary barrier in ad-tech.

Entravision Communications Corporation's investment in proprietary technology, specifically Smadex (its programmatic ad purchasing platform) and Adwake (its mobile growth solutions business), creates a moat, albeit a temporary one. The success of the ATS segment, which saw operating profit soar 378% to $9.8 million in Q3 2025, is tied to these platforms' AI capabilities. Smadex focuses on mobile UA and CTV, leveraging AI for direct response campaigns. This specialized, performance-driven technology requires time and data to build and optimize, which serves as a small barrier to a brand-new entrant trying to match the performance metrics achieved by established platforms.

New entrants can bypass traditional media by launching digital-only, niche content targeting Latino audiences.

The most significant threat comes from digital-native competitors who do not carry the legacy costs or regulatory burden of broadcast. These new entrants can focus entirely on niche content targeting Latino audiences, bypassing the traditional media channels that are struggling. The 26% decline in Entravision Communications Corporation's Media segment revenue in Q3 2025, partly due to lower political revenue, shows the vulnerability of traditional platforms to audience fragmentation. New digital-only players can launch with lower initial overhead, focusing their entire budget on digital user acquisition, which, on average, costs businesses between $301 and $5,000 per month for general digital advertising spend.

Key risks from digital-only entrants include:

• Focusing solely on high-growth areas like CTV where Smadex operates.
• Lower initial overhead costs than broadcast.
• Ability to pivot faster than a hybrid company.
• Targeting specific, underserved niches within the Latino market.

Finance: draft 13-week cash view by Friday.