CBS Sees Profit Spike

May 2, 2012 World Screen Top Stories
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NEW YORK: First-quarter profit jumped 80 percent for CBS Corporation, bolstered by an influx from digital deals.

Net earnings were $363 million, up from the year ago’s $202 million. Revenues for the first quarter were up 12 percent to $3.92 billion. This gain was led by content licensing and distribution revenues, which were up 39 percent. This growth is attributed to licensing agreements for digital streaming as well as international and domestic syndication sales. Ad revenues increased 5 percent, with growth in network prime time and sports advertising.

Entertainment revenues for the first quarter increased 16 percent to $2.32 billion. Revenues at the cable networks grew 15 percent to $452 million. This revenue growth was boosted by higher licensing revenues from the digital streaming of Showtime original series and increases in the rates and subscriptions at Showtime Networks and Smithsonian Networks.

“As great as these last few years have been, this quarter tops it all,” said Sumner Redstone, executive chairman of CBS Corporation. “What’s most exciting is that we are poised to benefit from all of the strategic actions we’ve taken—and continue to take—for a long, long time. We have the best content and the right management to ensure success, and as a result, I have never been more confident about our company’s future than I am today.”

“The transformation of CBS’s business model continues, and I am extremely pleased that we posted record results,” added Leslie Moonves, the president and CEO of CBS Corporation. “Our ability to capitalize on the fundamental shifts in our industry has led to the growth of significant new revenue streams and has also allowed us to increase our share of non-advertising revenue. At the same time, we continue to benefit from underlying advertising growth. Of course, the cornerstone of our ability to drive earnings will always come back to our success in creating premium content. In that regard, we greatly look forward to building on our leading position when we unveil our new prime-time schedule in a couple of weeks. We will then sell that lineup into what we’re confident will be a very healthy upfront marketplace, and begin anew the process of monetizing our programming through the burgeoning content value chain. So, with political dollars due to ramp up in the back half of 2012, and with the syndication programming pipeline we have established for 2013, we look forward to the future with great confidence.”