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CBS Corp. reports lower quarterly earnings and barking dogs

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CBS Corp.’s net income plunged 57% in the fourth quarter largely because of an impairment charge to account for the reduced value of some of its radio stations. In addition, CBS reported lower revenue from its billboard unit and local radio and TV stations -- but higher revenues from its entertainment businesses.

For the quarter ended Dec. 31, CBS earned $58.8 million, or 9 cents a share, compared with $136.1 million, or 20 cents a share, in the year-earlier period. The charge was for $178.3 million to account for a drop in value of certain undisclosed radio stations. In the year-earlier period, CBS took a much smaller charge of $64.2 million after unloading some of its radio holdings.

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Revenue for the quarter was down 1% to $3.5 billion.

For the full year, CBS said it collected $13 billion in revenue, compared with nearly $14 billion in 2008. It earned $226.5 million in 2009, compared with a $12.5-billion loss in 2008 because of impairment charges when the company’s stock plummeted in value during the market collapse and CBS Chairman Sumner Redstone’s disclosure of a credit crunch with his family’s investment firm. Redstone’s private firm has since restructured its debt.

CBS Corp. Chief Executive Leslie Moonves said during a conference call Thursday that the advertising market continues to show signs of improvement, including at local TV and radio stations, which were slammed by the recession. Auto advertising is finally shifting into gear, and the company expects to rake in political dollars during the second half of the year. Moonves also said advertising for the CBS broadcast network was up 8% for the quarter.

‘You can see the continued strength in our content businesses,’ Moonves said.

Moonves acknowledged that the inaugural movie out of CBS Films, ‘Extraordinary Measures’ starring Harrison Ford and Brendan Fraser, was a disappointment. ‘Our first film did not perform nearly as well as we would have liked,’ he said. The company did not say whether it would have to take an impairment charge for losses on the film, which was released in January and earned just $12 million at the box office.

On a more positive note, CBS said it raked in the largest haul ever for one of its broadcasts of a Super Bowl -- but it did not provide a dollar amount. Chief Financial Officer Joseph Ianniello added: ‘We are confident that 2010 is going to be better than 2009.’

At the beginning of the call, Redstone provided his opening remarks, which are usually brimming with pride and sunny forecasts for his company. ‘There is no economic storm that a company like CBS cannot weather,’ Redstone said. ‘Content is king and will always be king. And no one has better content than CBS and another company that I cannot name today.’ That would be his other company, Viacom.

Listeners on the call could hear Redstone’s dogs, long-haired Dachshunds, barking loudly in the background. Whether they were in agreement with Redstone or had a different take on the numbers could not be determined. At that point, the 86-year-old mogul’s phone line abruptly went dead, and Moonves took over the call.

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-- Meg James

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