CBS Profit Up on Content Licensing Fees, Retransmission Revenue -- 2nd Update

By Joe Flint and Tess Stynes 

CBS Corp. isn't looking to get any bigger.

"We feel very complete. We have everything that we want," CBS Chairman and Chief Executive Leslie Moonves said during the company's earnings call Thursday, in response to an analyst's question about recent speculation that CBS and Viacom Inc. could reunite. Both are controlled by media mogul Sumner Redstone and were split apart a decade ago.

Although Mr. Moonves declined to comment on Viacom specifically, he said CBS is coming from a "position of strength" and wouldn't want to "do anything that's going to reduce that strength."

Mr. Moonves spoke on the heels of CBS reporting a 27% gain in second-quarter earnings that beat analysts' expectations, bolstered by content licensing fees for five Star Trek series abroad and growth in retransmission revenue.

In the past, Mr. Moonves has said he wasn't looking to boost CBS's cable programming presence because he feels his hand is strong enough now with the CBS broadcast network and the pay-TV channel Showtime. A deal with Viacom would add dozens of cable channels, many of which are struggling, to his portfolio.

The reunion of the two media giants has been pushed by analysts who think Viacom would be stronger if it was recombined with CBS, whose stock has performed better in recent years. A Viacom-CBS remarriage is also seen as one potential outcome of the messy legal battle over future control of Mr. Redstone's media empire.

CBS did look at acquiring the pay-TV channel Starz, Mr. Moonves said, but ultimately passed. Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. ended up agreeing to acquire Starz in a deal valued at $4.4 billion.

Meanwhile, CBS raised its quarterly dividend by 20% to 18 cents a share and boosted its stock buyback plan to $6 billion. That marks about a quarter of the company's more than $24 billion market value.

CBS also provided its first detailed report on its internet-delivered programming services CBS All Access and Showtime Anytime. The former is a digital feed of the CBS network and is sold for $5.99 a month. The latter is an online version of Showtime that costs about $11 a month. Together the two have over two million subscribers, Mr. Moonves said.

For the quarter ended June 30, CBS reported revenue increased 2.1% to $3.29 billion, slightly above estimates of analysts polled by Thomson Reuters for revenue of $3.21 billion.

A year earlier, CBS's revenue got a boost from distribution fees for its content from pay-TV operators and its own affiliates, as well as the record-breaking pay-per-view telecast of the Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao fight. The year-earlier quarter also included the NCAA Tournament finals.

Overall, CBS reported a profit of $423 million, or 93 cents a share, up from $332 million, or 67 cents a share, a year earlier. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected per-share profit of 86 cents.

In the latest quarter, content licensing and distribution revenue rose 16%, driven mainly by the Star Trek licensing deals internationally. Meanwhile, affiliate and subscription fees decreased 2.5% and advertising revenue declined 2.6%.

Mr. Moonves said CBS had its strongest upfront advertising selling season in years, which will benefit the company beginning in late September when the new higher pricing takes effect for the start of the fall TV season.

Anne Steele contributed to this article.

Write to Joe Flint at [e-mail] and Tess Stynes at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 28, 2016 19:43 ET (23:43 GMT)

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