CBS has reported their Quarter 3 earnings and the results show strong growth for direct to consumer services, including CBS All Access, along with MVPD increases.
“We delivered record third-quarter revenues as we continue to increase our investment in our premium content and direct-to-consumer streaming services, which is the cornerstone of our growth strategy,” said Joe Ianniello, President and Acting Chief Executive Officer, CBS Corporation. “During the quarter, our direct-to-consumer revenue from CBS All Access and Showtime OTT grew 39% from last year, driven by a strong slate of original programming”
Meanwhile, retrans, reverse comp and virtual MVPD revenues grew 18%, and our total affiliate and subscription fees grew 12%, representing more than a third of our overall revenue in Q3,” Ianniello continued. “ Our content licensing revenue is also growing as we ramp up production of programming for all of our platforms, including five new hit shows that we just launched on the biggest platform in media, the CBS Television Network, which is on track to end the season as the most-watched network for the 12th consecutive year.”
In total, entertainment revenue grew to $2.29 billion, up 4% from $2.19 billion in Quarter 3 of 2018. CBS attributes that increase to affiliate and subscription fee revenues, which were up 22%, driven by increases in station affiliation fees and revenues from virtual MVPDs, as well as subscriber growth at CBS All Access.
Cable network revenue increased as well, coming in at $563 million, up 6% from $529 million in Quarter 3 of 2018. The increase reflects growth from the Showtime digital streaming subscription offering and the inclusion of the results of Pop. The Company acquired the remaining stake of Pop in March 2019, bringing its ownership to 100%.
CBS expects to see more growth going into 2020, with Showtimes series like Shameless returning and new series including On Becoming a God in Central Florida building an audience. With an upcoming merger with Viacom and a new content leadership team, we can also expect to see some changes in content at CBS All Access in 2020.
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