NEW YORK - CBS Corp., producer of 60 Minutes and the hit crime series CSI, said Thursday its first-quarter earnings fell 6 percent, hurt by the sale of radio stations and lower syndicated TV income.
CBS, which also operates outdoor advertising and publishing units, said net income fell to $213.
5 million, or 28 cents per share, from $226.9 million, or 30 cents per share, in the year-ago period. The latest quarter included a tax charge related to the sale of some radio stations.
Excluding items, earning rose 8 percent to $253.6 million, or 33 cents per share - beating by a penny estimates on Wall Street, according to Thomson Financial.
CBS, which split from media conglomerate Viacom in early 2006, said revenue rose 2 percent to $3.
66 billion from $3.58 billion last year, beating Wall Street estimates of $3.62 billion.
Television paced the gain, as the broadcast of the Super Bowl pushed ad revenue up 9 percent. The U.S.
football championship commands the highest per-ad rate on television. The TV unit's operating income fell 31 percent on lower syndication earnings.
CBS has been the top-rated network for four consecutive years, but prime-time advertising revenue fell 5 percent in the first quarter, the company said in a conference call.
Goldman Sachs analyst Anthony Noto said TV revenue growth will likely continue to slow as ratings slip. Ad rates are based on ratings, and advanced ad sales begin in two weeks in what is known as the upfront season.
But CEO Leslie Moonves said he thinks CBS and other networks will get credited in the ratings for viewers who tape shows with digital video recorders.
Currently, they are not counted by the Nielsen system.
We will get paid for DVR viewing in this year's upfront, turning a current problem into a big and ongoing asset, Moonves said during the call. He estimates some 7 percent of Nielsen homes have DVRs.
The company's Simon Shuster publishing division rode several best-sellers, including self-help book The Secret, to a 28 percent revenue increase and a fourfold gain in operating earnings. CBS' outdoor advertising unit, which sells ads on billboards and bus shelters, reported 2 percent higher revenue.
Revenue at radio, long the sick man of the company as listeners migrate to MP3 players and commercial-free satellite radio, plunged 9 percent.
Last month, CBS fired talk-show host Don Imus after he insulted members of a women's college basketball team. The unit is still trying to revive ratings after losing Howard Stern to Sirius Satellite Radio in January 2006. At the end of March, the company brought in Dan Mason, a former head of CBS Radio, to run the unit after its president resigned.
Meanwhile, the company made smaller acquisitions of Internet and digital media companies, searching for ways to distribute its existing content online. Moonves said CBS would continue to shop, but does not plan any acquisitions that are substantial in dollar amounts. CBS finished the quarter with $3.
38 billion in cash.
Looking ahead, CBS expects longer-term revenue to grow by a low single-digit percentage and operating income to increase by a mid-single digit percentage.
CBS shares rose 17 cents to $31.
98 in late-morning trading.
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