Profit Falls at Discovery

SILVER SPRING: Discovery Communications’ third-quarter profit dropped by 22 percent to $219 million on stable revenues of $1.56 billion.

While U.S. network revenues rose by 2 percent to $793 million, international network revenues were down by 3 percent to $720 million. The fall in profit was largely attributed to a $50 million after-tax impairment charge related to the Lionsgate investment.

“While we faced challenging but expected headwinds this quarter, Discovery is well positioned for long-term growth driven by our well-defined global brands, differentiated content and favorable distribution agreements,” said David Zaslav, president and CEO. “We have continued to strengthen and maximize our traditional pay-TV offering with robust new programming while aggressively exploiting new opportunities to leverage our content across numerous digital platforms around the world. Amid an ever-shifting global media ecosystem, Discovery is evolving to reach more consumers on more screens and platforms than ever before.”

In the U.S. segment, while distribution revenues rose, ad revenues fell by 3 percent. At the international networks, distribution revenues were stable, rising 1 percent, but ad revenues fell by 6 percent.