CBS TV Stations’ 4Q Revenue Down 12%

CBS Corp. on Wednesday reported its highest-ever fourth quarter and full year results in revenues, operating income before depreciation and amortization (OIBDA), operating income and diluted earnings per share.

“Our record fourth-quarter and full-year results demonstrate CBS’s stature as one of the world’s foremost creators of premium content,” said Leslie Moonves, president-CEO, CBS Corp. “In addition to the solid performance of our base business, our fast-growing, non-advertising revenue streams are playing a bigger and bigger role in our results, and they will continue to do so in the years to come. These include the sale of three hit shows — Hawaii Five-0, Blue Bloods and Elementary — into domestic syndication, along with new deals in digital streaming, international syndication, retransmission consent, and reverse compensation.

“Plus, we plan to launch the IPO of our Outdoor business this quarter, which will unlock its value and significantly enhance our ability to return capital to shareholders. In fact, that’s why today we’re announcing an accelerated share repurchase of $1.5 billion in addition to stepping up the pace of our open market share repurchases during the first quarter,” Moonves added.

Local Broadcasting revenues for the fourth quarter of 2013 decreased 9% to $719 million from $787 million for the same prior-year period. The decrease was the result of lower political advertising revenues compared with 2012, which benefited from the U.S. presidential election, and was partially offset by growth in retransmission consent fees.

Revenues for CBS Television Stations and CBS Radio decreased 12% and 4%, respectively. Non-political revenues for CBS Television Stations increased 9%, while non-political revenues for CBS Radio were comparable with the fourth quarter of 2012.

Entertainment revenues of $2.21 billion for the fourth quarter of 2013 grew 11% from $1.99 billion for the same prior-year period. This increase was principally driven by higher domestic and international licensing of television programming for digital streaming and syndication, higher advertising revenues, and growth in network affiliation fees. Advertising revenues at the CBS Television Network grew 4%.

Cable Networks revenues for the fourth quarter of 2013 increased 9% to $477 million from $438 million for the same prior-year period. This growth was driven by the licensing of Showtime original series as well as higher affiliate revenues, reflecting increases in rates and subscriptions at Showtime Networks (which includes Showtime, The Movie Channel, and Flix), CBS Sports Network, and Smithsonian Networks.

For the company as a whole, revenues of $3.91 billion for the fourth quarter of 2013 grew 6% from $3.70 billion in the same prior-year period. This growth was led by a 28% increase in content licensing and distribution revenues, which was driven by higher domestic and international licensing of television programming.

Affiliate and subscription fee revenues grew 7%, principally reflecting higher cable affiliate fees, retransmission revenues, and fees from CBS Television Network-affiliated television stations. Advertising revenues remained relatively even with the prior-year period, as a 4% increase at the CBS Television Network was offset by lower political advertising revenues at Local Broadcasting.

Adjusted net earnings from continuing operations were $477 million for the fourth quarter of 2013, or $.78 per diluted share, up from $414 million, or $.64 per diluted share, for the same prior-year period.