By : Angelique Flores | Posted: 09 Mar 2010
aflores@questex.com

Fitness and wellness media giant Gaiam had the strongest quarter since its inception, reporting record net revenue and operating income for its fourth quarter (ended Dec. 31).

The results came from streamlining business during the past few quarters and internal revenue growth of 18.7%, company executives said.

Gaiam reported net income of $4 million, compared with a net loss of $30.3 million during the same quarter the previous year. Operating income for the quarter was $6.7 million, compared with a loss of $47.2 million during the same quarter the prior year.

For the year, Gaiam reported net revenue of $278.5 million, an 8.3% increase from $257.2 million in 2008. Net income for 2009 was $296,000, compared with a net loss off $35.6 million in 2008.

In looking ahead for 2010, chairman Jirka Rysavy said the company’s main goals are to focus on the digital-media market and grow its market share in nontheatrical media.

While Gaiam has long had a good foothold on the fitness/wellness market in the home entertainment sector, their 2009 distribution deal with Discovery Communications has given the company a good start in increasing its nontheatrical home entertainment.

Last year Gaiam began distributing Discovery content on DVD and Blu-ray Disc, including its properties Animal Planet, TLC, Discovery Channel, HD Theater, The Science Channel, ID: Investigation Discovery and the Military Channel.

On the digital end, Gaiam will launch GaiamTV.com in the spring as a flagship to its entire digital library, Rysavy said.

The company also will partner with new media companies to provide fitness and wellness videos and nontheatrical content for streaming, rental and subscription, said Lynn Powers, president and CEO. Gaiam already has its own exclusive fitness channel on YouTube, she said.

“We’re preparing for the transition from DVD to digital distribution by continuing to digitize Gaiam, Discovery and our other partners’ content,” Rysavy said.

Rysavy said that Gaiam already own the digital rights to all the content it distributes.

“We want to make sure whatever we have has digital offerings because we believe that the digital part of the offerings will be very critical in the years to come,” he said. “We want to get ahead of the ball.”

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