• by Wayne Friedman , January 23, 2009

After decent early 2008 profitable earning periods, NBC Universal slipped in the final quarter of 2008, down 6% in net profit and 3% lower in revenues.

Much of this stemmed from the crushing local TV advertising market--where, despite a strong political and Olympic year, TV stations could not keep pace with NBC's still-growing divisions, such as its cable TV networks.

Net profits went to $865 million on revenues of $4.4 billion in parent General Electric's fourth-quarter calendar year that ended Dec. 31. For the year, however, NBC was up a bit in net profits--1% to $3.1 billion, with revenues 7% higher at $16.9 billion.

General Electric CFO Keith Sherin noted that NBC's cable networks were particularly strong--especially USA, Bravo, SciFi, CNBC and MSNBC, all of which delivered good ratings in the fourth quarter. Profitability from its broadcast properties, however, was in free-fall, down 50% due to major troubles in the local advertising market for its TV stations.

Sherin noted that NBC's digital efforts with Hulu were a success, but that softness in the advertising market was now hitting NBC's Internet ad business. Another bright spot was NBC's Beijing Olympics, which made a slight profit. NBC recorded strong ratings for the two-week summer event.

General Electric, as a whole, has been suffering--all due to the suffering financial markets, which have had a direct impact on GE's lending operations. Its fourth-quarter profit tumbled 44% for all its business segments to $3.7 billion and down 5% to $46.2 billion.