• by Wayne Friedman , August 4, 2011

Discovery Communications' advertising revenues continued their steady rise in the second quarter -- both domestically and internationally -- amid a strong earnings report. 

U.S. advertising results grew 10% to $361 million, with international ad revenues rising at a faster pace, 25%, to $132 million. Discovery credits higher pricing and higher sellouts of inventory.

In an earnings call with analysts, David Zaslav, president and CEO of Discovery Communications, predicted ad rate, affiliate fees and viewership growth for the network in the coming years.

The company says taking out Discovery Health results, advertising revenues would have climbed 13%. Discovery Health is now OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network, a partnership with Harpo Studios.

Speaking about the slow start of OWN, and Oprah Winfrey (who recently took the title of CEO and chief creative officer), Zaslav expressed continued support: "Her team is already working on creating compelling content for the network," which include better upcoming fall and spring content and high-profile shows from Rosie O'Donnell and Winfrey.

Net income for the company improved to $254 million -- a $148 million gain from $106 million in the second quarter of 2010. This excludes prior-year tax-related adjustments. But including it meant that Discovery only posted a gain net income of $43 million.

Distributions revenues climbed at a slower pace to advertising sales -- up 4% to $273 million for the U.S., and 18% to $220 million internationally.

Looking to boost Discovery stock price, Discovery announced a $1 billion share repurchased effort. In mid-day trading, Discovery stock was down 0.5% to $38.02.