The hottest rumor of the year, which seemed to last several years, was that CBS Corporation and Viacom were to announce their reunification following the release of the former’s Q2 2019 results on Thursday.
That hadn’t happened as of 4:30pm Eastern.
So, how did CBS do in Q2?
The results were good as total revenue climbed to $3.81 billion from $3.47 billion. That beat the forecast of $3.72 billion in revenue from IBES data from Refinitiv.
Local Media revenue grew to $423 million from $420 million. Cable Networks revenue grew to $562 million, from $553 million.
Entertainment revenue was the leader, with revenue growing to $2.74 billion from $2.4 billion. That bested Refinitiv estimates of $2.62 billion.
Breaking down the revenues, “affiliate and subscription fees” rose to $1.11 billion from $989 million as advertising increased to $1.42 million from $1.33 million.
Local media income was $130 million, rising from $128 million.
When all was said and done, CBS saw net income of $440 million ($1.17 per diluted share) in Q2, rising from $400 million ($1.05).
Excluding certain items, Q2 net income was $1.16 per share; Refinitiv consensus was $1.12.
In early after-hours trading on Wall Street, CBS was off by 13 cents, to $50.69.
