Strong Gains for CBS Corp in Q1

NEW YORK: In its strongest ever quarterly results, CBS Corporation has reported a Q1 revenue of $4.04 billion, a 6-percent gain, delivering an operating income that was 18 percent higher at $800 million.

The company said its revenues topped the $4 billion mark for the first time since becoming a stand-alone entity, following the Viacom split, in 2006. In the period, ad revenues were up by 8 percent to $2.5 billion and affiliate and subscription revenues gained 14 percent to $519 million. The company reported particular gains in retransmission revenues, fees from affiliated stations and cable networks. Content licensing and distribution revenues dipped by 1 percent to $1 billion despite a 19-percent boost in streaming revenues. Net profit for the quarter was $443 million.

Leslie Moonves, president and CEO of the company, noted, “Across key financial measures—including revenue, OIBDA, operating income and EPS—this was the most successful quarter in our company’s history. The value of our world-class content clearly continues to rise. In terms of big-event television, we had tremendous success during the quarter with the Super Bowl, the Grammys, the NCAA men’s basketball tournament, and more recently, the Academy of Country Music Awards. And our prime-time lineup continues to dominate as well. The CBS Television Network is poised to win the season across all demographics, putting us in a very strong position as we prepare to unveil our new prime-time lineup at the Upfront later this month. In the weeks that follow, we’ll be selling our schedule into an advertising marketplace that continues to improve, and we expect to once again lead the competition in pricing and volume.”