Profit Plummets at CBS Corp.

NEW YORK: Net profit at CBS Corporation for the second quarter fell from $408.4 million a year ago to $15.4 million, while in the first half the company recorded a loss of $39.9 million, as compared with a profit last year of $652.7 million.

Revenues in the quarter fell to $3.01 billion. Of this, $1.95 billion came from the television segment, consisting of the CBS network and local stations, CBS Television Studios, CBS Television Distribution, CBS College Sports Network and Showtime Networks. TV revenues were down 10 percent, with ad revenues down 13 percent to $1.15 billion, TV license fees down 6 percent to $347.9 million and home entertainment down 46.3 percent to $44.4 million. Affiliate revenues, however, gained 9.6 percent to $328.8 million. Television operating income dropped 44 percent to $264.4 million.

Announcing the results, president and CEO Leslie Moonves said: "We continue to believe that the back half of the year will be considerably stronger than the first. We are particularly encouraged by the strong performance of our many content businesses. Following a season where we were the only network to grow in all key demos, CBS is again alone in adding viewers this summer, and well positioned to carry that momentum into the fall. We also have a strong slate of syndication titles in the pipeline for release between now and year-end. And we continue to see the benefits of the aggressive steps we have taken to reduce expenses throughout the company. As the U.S. economy improves, we are confident we can deliver stronger financial results in both the near and longer term."