• by Wayne Friedman , April 29, 2015

Turner improved 4%, or $38 million, during the period to $1.18 billion -- all thanks to the NCAA tournament and advertising gains made by CNN. Estimates were that Turner’s advertising would grow 1% during the period.

But Turner Broadcasting affiliate revenue gains were at 3% -- below estimates -- up $38 million to $1.35 billion.

Turner also gained 25% -- $37 million in content sales, with strong contributions from subscription video on demand revenues. Turner revenue was 4.5% higher to $2.7 billion.

Warner Bros. outperformed estimates, up 4.3% more in revenues -- $80 million -- to $3.2 billion as a result of home video revenue from “American Sniper,” as well as the sale of “Friends” to Netflix. But the unit’s operating income sank 13% ($50 million) to $330 million, due to higher film and advertising costs.

HBO grew 4.4% ($59 million) to $1.4 billion -- below a 7% estimate.

Overall, Time Warner revenue improved 5% to $7.1 billion, with net income down 25% to $970 million. Mid-day trading of Time Warner’s stock was virtually flat, down 0.08% at $84.91.