• by Wayne Friedman , August 1, 2007

CBS says its fall TV sports properties--the NFL and U.S. Open--have been getting double-digit CPM increases from advertisers. This news comes as CBS reports that its second-quarter financial results showed a 9% improvement in net earnings from continuing operations. The catch: overall, CBS says net earnings were down 48% in the period to $404 million, with revenues off 3% to $3.374 billion. CBS' overall TV revenues sank 4% in the second quarter to $2.2 billion from $2.3 billion.

CBS says three things affected its results.

First was the timing of the semifinals of the NCAA Men's Basketball tournament. The games aired in the first quarter of this year, versus the second quarter of a year ago. Second, CBS says revenues from its now-defunct UPN network also brought down results. CBS also says the sale of nine TV stations dropped revenue numbers.

Advertising revenues decreased 11% from the same prior-year period, principally because of these same three factors. On a per-program basis, however, CBS says business is strong.

"Scatter prices in the second quarter were well into double-digit increases," says Les Moonves, president/CEO of CBS Corp. Moonves also notes that during the June ad upfront market, CBS pulled in "mid- to-high-single-digit [cost-per-thousand viewer price] increases."

Fred Reynolds, executive vice president and CFO of CBS Corp., says price increases for daytime and early news deals were equal to or greater than price hikes in prime time.

Moonves also noted that advertisers quickly adopted the C3 guarantees--which will help CBS get paid for the playback of its shows on digital video recorders. "It is very significant to us," he says. "Ninety percent of DVR [playback] is within three days." He added that C3 ratings are going to be slightly down versus program ratings, but in the long run it will favor television.

Regarding retransmission deals with cable operators, which give CBS new revenues, Moonves says, "we have eight of the 25 MSOs signed up. Charter and Cox and Echostar are up in [20]09. Time Warner in [20]10 and Comcast in [20]11."

While CBS touts its continued dominance, having nine of the top 10-rated show in syndication, the company says the stations' cash revenues from syndicated shows decreased 8% in the period, principally because of the absence of the 2006 domestic syndication revenue of "Without A Trace." CBS said home-entertainment revenues from sales of "CSI" and library sales of "MacGyver" increased $83.4 million over the second quarter of 2006.

Radio revenues slowed 11% to $463.4 million, mostly because of previously announced radio station sales in 10 markets and continued weakness in the radio advertising market.

CBS' outdoor business climbed 7% in operating income to $115.3 million. The company says growth in North America offset a decline in Europe and Asia.

Publishing revenues increased 14% to $200.3 million, mostly from higher sales titles, such as "Blaze" by Stephen King, writing as Richard Bachman, and "The Secret" by Rhonda Byrne.