CBS’ second-quarter earnings fell sharply from a year ago, with net income plunging to $404 million from $781.7 million a year ago. Revenue fell at both the network’s television and radio stations, with advertising revenues down 11 percent from a year ago.
Last year, results got a boost by a tax gain and the sale of its Paramount Parks unit. In 2006, the network’s revenue included a gain of $292 million, or 38 cents per share, from the sale of the theme parks. A tax gain added 17 cents per share to earnings.
CBS television, the current highest rated network, took a 4 percent decline in revenue to $2.2 billion, caused by the shutdown of the UPN network and a shift of the NCAA men’s basketball championship to the first quarter of this year from the second quarter in 2006.
In a sign of the shifting media landscape, the Associated Press reported that CBS sold 39 radio stations and 10 television stations in smaller markets over the past year. Meanwhile, the company acquired digital media properties, most recently spending $280 million to acquire www.last.fm in an effort to distribute its programming content to online viewers.
Earlier in the quarter, the network joined a group of five media companies, including Viacom, to invest $45 million in Joost, a company attempting to broadcast television over the Internet.
While CBS has nine of the top 10 rated show in syndication, it said the stations’ cash revenues from syndicated shows decreased 8 percent in the period.
