• by Wayne Friedman , November 10, 2016

Walt Disney Co. witnessed some rocky quarterly results.

Revenue was down 3% to $13.14 billion for its fiscal fourth-quarter period, with net income 10% higher to $1.8 billion. But operating income was down 10% to $3.5 billion. Analysts say earnings results came in less than expected.

Disney explained that there was an additional week of reporting in the prior-year period.

Media Networks revenue was off 3% to $5.8 billion -- with the cable networks’ piece dropping 7% to $4.0 billion. ESPN had lower advertising -- primarily due to fewer impressions and lower rates -- and lower affiliate revenue, and there were higher programming and production costs.

There has been concern over traditional subscriber declines at ESPN. Bob Iger, chairman/CEO for Walt Disney, said its BAMTech acquisition will contribute to ESPN’s future in digital media distribution platforms.

“That gives us a new opportunity to create a product that is more user-friendly and the ability to mine data from that user consumption. It will improve our advertising prospects and give us the ability to tailor the product in more customize way for those consumers,” he noted.

Disney Channels also had lower affiliate revenue, which has contributed to a cable network segment decline in operating income of $207 million to $1.4 billion. 

Broadcasting revenue up 8% to $1.7 billion from higher affiliate revenue and program sales. But it rang up lower advertising revenue from lower viewing impressions, and there was an “increase in equity losses from Hulu.”

Disney’s parks and resorts inched up 1% to $4.4 billion in revenues There were lower revenues at Disneyland Paris and Hong Kong Disneyland Resort. But it gain revenue from the Shanghai Disney Resort.

Studio entertainment climbed 2% to $1.8 billion, yet there were lower theatrical expected revenues from “Pete’s Dragon” and “Queen of Katwe.”

Consumer products/interactive media was down 17% to $1.3 billion. During the period, there was a decrease in revenue, which was primarily due to the discontinuation of Disney’s Infinity console game business.

Disney closed up 0.3% to 94.96 on Thursday with after-market trading down 3.3% to $92.43 at one point, before recovering to climb 3%.