RHI Revenues Down 41 Percent

NEW YORK: For the first quarter, revenues fell 41 percent at RHI Entertainment to $13 million, while the company narrowed its net loss from $20.2 million to $12.7 million.

Library revenues fell 25 percent to $13 million, and there were no production revenues in the period—versus $4.9 million last year.

"We are enthusiastic about our prospects for 2009 as market signals suggest that our cost value proposition continues to hold its appeal," said Robert Halmi, Jr., the president and CEO of RHI. "This quarter shows that we are effectively managing our operations, bolstering our relationships with key broadcasters and cable networks, and solidly positioning our company for growth. We also remain committed to meeting our longer-term objectives of paying down roughly $200 million in debt over four years, continuing to monetize our library, reducing overhead and further diversifying our product mix through series programming, all of which will serve to strengthen the underlying fundamentals of our business."

He continued: "Our financial results for the first quarter reflect the natural seasonality of our business as the majority of our revenue is booked in the second half of the year. As we expected and planned for, the unfavorable market conditions that we experienced in the fourth quarter of 2008 carried over into 2009. The good news, however, is that demand for original movies and mini-series and library content from broadcast and cable networks began to come back on line in January. Since that time, we have ramped-up our production and sales efforts accordingly. Production orders from NBC, SCI FI, Spike and Lifetime give us confidence that we are on track to deliver a solid slate of 30 to 35 films this year. Additionally, our recent trip to Europe for the annual international MIP sales conference gives us confidence that our library remains in high demand from customers looking for high quality and attractively priced content.”