Stable Revenues at Discovery

SILVER SPRING: Discovery Communications’ revenues for the third quarter were stable at $854 million, 1-percent higher than this time last year, with a profit of $95 million, down from $134 million.

U.S. revenues at the company gained 5 percent to $522 million, while international revenues fell 2 percent to $293 million. In the U.S., the company benefited from increased distribution and ad revenues. The international networks, meanwhile, suffered from an unfavorable impact from foreign currency fluctuations; excluding those, the channels reported an increase in both ad revenues and subscription revenues.

David Zaslav, Discovery’s president and CEO, said: "We remain focused on strengthening our portfolio and programming while increasing our efficiency through targeted reductions in our overall cost structure. Our strategy has generated ratings momentum across our networks enabling us to grow market share and, along with our expanding distribution revenues and leaner cost structure, positions us for continued margin expansion as the economy strengthens."

For the full year, Discovery Communications expects revenues of $3.45 million to $3.5 million, and net profit ranging from $525 million to $550 million.