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CBS Corp. Radio Q1 Revenues Fall 6%, May Sell Some Stations
April 26, 2006 at 1:03 PM (PT)
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CBS CORP. first quarter overall revenue rose 4% to $3.58 billion and net earnings from continuing operations rose from $225 to $226.9 million (28 to 30 cents/share), but radio revenue fell 6% to $435 million, attributed to ongoing radio ad sales weakness and changes in programming, including the loss of HOWARD STERN's show.
CEO LES MOONVES said that radio is "our one segment that is not yet achieving acceptable growth. We have implemented a number of recent initiatives to change that, including the new JACK and Spanish formats which have shown good success. And we believe this week's announcement to add a powerful new morning show (OPIE AND ANTHONY) will greatly improve the performance of our drive-time programming in the nation's largest east-coast markets."
On the company's conference call, MOONVES said that the company will "sell some (radio) stations if it makes sense... we are being quite aggressive about that." MOONVES called the radio stations "extremely valuable" to the company but indicated that CBS will concentrate on large and growing markets.

