• by Erik Sass  @eriksass1, November 9, 2009

Liberty Media and Dish Network both reported their third-quarter results on Monday, posting little or no growth as their core businesses continued to be affected by the broader recession. Executives from both companies expressed reserved optimism for a turnaround in the remainder of 2009 and the first part of 2010.

Liberty Media Corporation -- which includes Liberty Capital, Liberty Interactive, and Liberty Entertainment -- saw combined revenues for these three divisions remain flat at around $2.34 billion, compared to the third quarter of 2008.

Both Liberty Interactive, which includes home-shopping powerhouse QVC -- and Liberty Entertainment -- which includes Starz Entertainment -- posted 2% growth compared to last year, reaching $1.8 billion and $369 million, respectively.

However, these gains were offset by a 22% drop at Liberty Capital, whose recent cinematic investments have included "Pandorum," "Capitalism: A Love Story," "Law Abiding Citizen" and "Men Who Stare at Goats." Liberty Capital's total revenues fell from $219 million in the third quarter of 2008 to $171 million this year.

Liberty executives noted that the company received a $250 million loan repayment from satellite radio broadcaster Sirius XM, which completely settles the loan; Liberty still holds bonds in Sirius XM. The company is also preparing to split off Liberty Entertainment, which will combine with DirecTV, if the deal receives approval from stockholders in an upcoming vote on Nov. 19.

Separately, Dish Network Corporation reported roughly comparable results, posting a 1.5% decrease in overall revenues in the third quarter compared to the same period in 2008, from $2.937 billion to $2.892 billion. This modest drop came despite a net increase of 241,000 subscribers during the quarter, bringing the company's total to just over 13.85 million.