Streaming Services Boost CBS Revenue--Update
August 08 2019 - 6:55PM
Dow Jones News
By Maria Armental
CBS Corp.'s investment in content and streaming-services
expansion helped deliver better-than-expected revenue growth in its
second quarter.
The company, which has been in merger talks with sister company
Viacom Inc., said during an earnings call Thursday that it wouldn't
comment "on speculation regarding M&A."
Similarly, Viacom made no reference to any talks with CBS when
it reported better-than-expected quarterly results on Thursday.
New York-based CBS reported revenue for the quarter rose 9.9%
from a year earlier to $3.81 billion. Analysts polled by FactSet
expected $3.72 billion.
The company said quarterly profit rose 10% to $440 million, or
$1.17 a share. On an adjusted basis, the company reported a profit
of $1.16 a share. Analysts surveyed by FactSet anticipated $1.12 a
share for both profit and adjusted profit.
The company said subscriptions from direct-to-consumer streaming
services -- anchored by CBS All Access and Showtime -- helped drive
a 13% increase in affiliate and subscription revenue in the
quarter.
Without disclosing actual subscription figures for those
services, CBS said it remains on track to reach its goal of 25
million combined subscribers by the end of 2022. The 25 million
target doesn't include subscriptions from international services,
company officials had said.
On Thursday, company officials said that international expansion
remains the biggest opportunity, particularly in direct to consumer
services. They said they expect the addition of children's
programming to CBS All Access to help grow subscriptions and lower
the number of cancellations.
CBS also plans to expand the digital 24-7 news stream CBSN to
all major markets to take advantage of the next election cycle,
which it expects to be a record year for political spending.
Advertising revenue rose 7% in the second quarter, led by the
broadcast of the semifinals and championship game of the NCAA
Division I men's basketball tournament, the company said.
Write to Maria Armental at maria.armental@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
August 08, 2019 18:40 ET (22:40 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2019 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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