CBS TV Stations’ 3Q Revenue Up 7%

On Wednesday, CBS Corp. reported results for the third quarter ended Sept. 30, that included a 7% increase in CBS Television Stations revenues that the company said were driven by political advertising and retransmission revenues. Its Local Broadcasting revenues (which includes CBS Radio) increased 1% in the quarter to $661 million from $656 million for the same prior-year period.

Entertainment division (CBS Television Network, CBS Television Studios, CBS Studios International, CBS Television Distribution, CBS Films, and CBS Interactive) revenue of $1.68 billion for the third quarter of 2012 grew 3% from $1.63 billion in the same prior-year period, driven by increased domestic and international television license fees and higher retransmission revenues. Advertising revenues were down from last year’s third quarter, primarily resulting from the broadcast of summer programming against the highly rated 2012 Summer Olympics and the impact of pre-emptions for the Republican and Democratic national conventions on six nights of the CBS Television Network’s primetime schedule.

The company as a whole reported revenues of $3.42 billion for the third quarter, an increase of 2% from $3.37 billion for the same prior-year period. This growth was led by an 8% increase in content licensing and distribution revenues, which were driven by higher domestic and international television license fees.

Affiliate and subscription fee revenues rose 12%, reflecting growth at Cable Networks, higher retransmission revenues, and fees received from CBS Network affiliated television stations. Advertising revenues were down 3%, primarily driven by lower advertising for CBS Radio, the impact of foreign exchange rate changes, and the impact of pre-emptions for the Republican and Democratic national conventions on six nights of the CBS Television Network’s primetime schedule.

Net earnings were $391 million for the third quarter of 2012, or $.60 per diluted share, up from $338 million, or $.50 per diluted share, during last year’s third quarter.

“The transformation of CBS continues as reflected in these record third quarter results,” said Leslie Moonves, president_CEO, CBS Corp. “We have taken a number of significant steps during the last several months to execute our strategy and grow the company. These include three major retransmission consent agreements, an important reverse compensation deal, new international and domestic streaming contracts, and the sale of our two new hit dramas, Vegas and Elementary, into international syndication. As we continue to take actions like these, we are increasing our recurring revenue from non-advertising sources and setting ourselves up for even more record results in the future. Going forward, we will continue to expand the ways we achieve value for our content, and we are confident we will hit our goal of a record 2012 and an even better 2013.”