CBS Sees Higher Profit, Revenue

NEW YORK: For its third quarter, CBS Corporation reported net income of $391 million, up 16 percent for the year-on-year comparison, and revenue rose 2 percent, to $3.4 billion.

The overall revenue growth was led by an 8-percent increase in content licensing and distribution revenues, which were boosted by higher U.S. and international TV license fees. Affiliate and subscription fee revenues rose 12 percent. Ad revenues were down 3 percent though, impacted by the performance at CBS Radio. OIBDA increased 7 percent, while operating income increased 10 percent. The growth in OIBDA and operating income were led by higher revenues and increased profits from licensing revenues. 

Entertainment revenues grew by 3 percent, to $1.68 billion, though ad revenues were down. At the cable networks, revenue for Q3 was up 4 percent to $436 million.

“CBS has continued its remarkable run with yet another record quarter,” said Sumner Redstone, the executive chairman of CBS Corporation. “Our world-class content and multiplatform distribution strategy remain at the center of our success. I am very proud of all that Leslie and his team have accomplished, and I know we are in position for continued growth for many years to come.”

“The transformation of CBS continues as reflected in these record third-quarter results,” added Leslie Moonves, the president and CEO of CBS Corporation. “We have taken a number of significant steps during the last several months to execute our strategy and grow the company. These include three major retransmission consent agreements, an important reverse compensation deal, new international and domestic streaming contracts, and the sale of our two new hit dramas, Vegas and Elementary, into international syndication. As we continue to take actions like these, we are increasing our recurring revenue from non-advertising sources and setting ourselves up for even more record results in the future. Going forward, we will continue to expand the ways we achieve value for our content, and we are confident we will hit our goal of a record 2012 and an even better 2013.”