• by Wayne Friedman , November 5, 2009

CBS Corp. not only posted improving third-quarter 2009 results -- as with other media companies -- but the near-term advertising market continues to rebound for its broadcast network.

"Scatter pricing is up nearly 25% over the upfront in the fourth quarter," says Les Moonves, president and chief executive officer of CBS Corp. Plus, overall fourth-quarter dollars pulled in by CBS are up over 100%, he said. Moonves didn't elaborate with other details.

"Demand for scatter is so high, we have been requested to cut [back] on our [program] promos," he says.

CBS made a key decision in the upfront ad-selling period to sell less inventory, with the hope that pricing would improve later in the season. "Our strategy is now working," says Moonves.

In looking at the third quarter, television revenues improved to $2.27 billion against $2.08 billion. Operating income in television climbed to $440.6 million from $367.4 million.

But for the entire third-quarter period, all TV advertising sales -- national, syndication, and local -- totaled $1.0 billion, down 5% from $1.06 million. At the same time, television license fees climbed 36% to $799.2 million from $585.5 million.

Reports suggest that CBS' big syndication revenue generator Oprah Winfrey will not return to her syndication show after her contract concludes in mid-2011. She will move to the new cable network OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network, which is co-owned by Discovery Communications.

"We fully hope she is coming back," says Moonves. "We'll know in a few months." Moonves says if she leaves, it would not affect CBS financial results until into 2012.

CBS' beleaguered local TV stations showed upward trends during the third quarter. Leaving out political advertising, CBS TV stations grew year-over-year for the month of October. Moonves says this benefited from an average 17% gain across its stations in 25-54 viewers, the key advertising selling demo in local broadcast.

Other CBS businesses are still having a difficult time. Radio's operating income fell to $82.8 million versus $130.6 million in the previous period. Outdoor moved into an operating loss at $34.9 million versus an operating income of $51.8 million.

CBS Interactive revenues declined 15% to $121.3 million from $142.3 million because of weakness in the display advertising market. Operating income (OIBDA) increased 11% to $4.1 million from $3.7 million.