CBS Corporation Reports Q4 Results

NEW YORK: CBS Corporation’s fourth-quarter revenues were relatively stable at $3.5 billion, while net profit fell from the year ago’s $136.1 million to $58.8 million.

For the full year, meanwhile, the company reported revenues of $13 billion, reflecting a 7-percent decline, delivering a profit of $226.5 million, as compared with a year-ago loss of $11.67 billion.

"Throughout the past year, Leslie and his team did all the right things to position CBS for a vibrant future, and the results we’re reporting today speak to our momentum," said Sumner Redstone, the executive chairman of CBS Corporation. "We’ve managed through the year with financial prudence, while at the same time continuing to invest in our top-quality content businesses and maintain our industry-leading position. I’m very excited about all that we can achieve going forward." 

"As we promised, each quarter in 2009 improved on the one before—culminating in our best performance of the year in the fourth quarter," added Leslie Moonves, the president and CEO of CBS Corporation. "The good news is, the rising revenue trends are continuing into 2010. We see a number of very positive signs at both our Content Group and our Local Group. The CBS Television Network is again number one this season and up in every key demographic year-over-year, and we’ve added two new hits—both of which are wholly-owned by CBS. Cable Networks’ subscriber and profit growth continues, and traffic to CBS Interactive sites hit new records during the quarter. Meanwhile, both national and local advertising are improving substantially—with dramatic gains in scatter and sales pacing for the Network and our TV Stations in the first quarter. Local radio stations are pacing well above last year’s first quarter, and Outdoor has reached last year’s levels. And with growing retransmission and affiliate fees, we’ve established a substantial secondary revenue stream. At the same time, we continue to manage our cost structure to deliver better efficiencies in any economy, and have improved our liquidity position—all of which we believe will help us better capitalize on the ongoing economic recovery in 2010."

The Entertainment segment, consisting of the CBS network, CBS Television Studios, CBS Studios International, CBS Television Distribution, CBS Films and CBS Interactive, saw its revenues increase by 4 percent in the quarter to $1.82 billion, led by 8-percent growth in advertising revenues at the CBS Television Network. Operating income increased by 17 percent to $146.9 million. At the Cable Networks (Showtime and CBS College Sports Network), revenues increased by 8 percent to $320.7 million, with a 49-percent hike in operating income to $147 million.