• by Wayne Friedman , November 3, 2009

Discovery Communications continued to buck the advertising trend of most other cable networks groups.

Advertising sales from its U.S. networks pointed up 5% to $261 million in the third quarter. Distribution fees were also on the rise 5%. Overall, its U.S. networks took $522 million in revenue -- a 5% gain.

All this gave Discovery's networks an operating income before depreciation and amortization (OIBDA), an improvement of 18% in the third quarter versus the third quarter of a year ago.

One downside: advertising results came as a result of increased ratings, which was "partially offset by lower cash sellouts due to softness in the economy."

Where its U.S. channels showed strong results, the opposite was true for its international networks -- thanks mostly to unfavorable impact from foreign currency fluctuations. International networks saw a 4% drop in advertising sales to $80 million and a 2% overall drop in revenue to $293 million.

In total, Discovery Communications net income sunk to $101 million in in the third quarter 2009 versus $134 million in the third quarter of 2008. Revenues of $854 million were up slightly compared with the third quarter a year ago.

Discovery ended the day down 22 cents to $27.28 a share.