CBS Corporation reported its full year 2016 and fourth quarter revenue today. The company now considers its CBS Radio division as “discontinued operations” in its financial reports.
Overall, CBS reported full year revenue of $13.17 billion, up four percent from the year prior, in part driven by Super Bowl 50 and the election year. In Q4, revenue dipped from $3.59 billion in the fourth quarter of 2015 to $3.52 billion, though this figure leaves out CBS Radio.
“2016 was a phenomenal year for the CBS Corporation, with all-time highs in revenue, operating income, and EPS that came in above $4 for the first time in our Company’s history; and as we begin 2017, I couldn’t be more excited about our growth prospects in the years ahead,” said Chairman/CEO Leslie Moonves. “We are already exceeding our projections to generate billions of dollars in incremental revenue, thanks to our new, fastgrowing revenue sources and the strength of our base business.”
As for CBS Radio, it brought in $328 million in Q4, but took an overall loss of $384 million due to impairment charges. For the full year of 2016, CBS Radio revenue reached just over $1.2 billion but in the end saw a $255 million net loss. In its report, CBS noted that it expects to complete the transaction of its sale to Entercom in the second half of 2017.
In his comments, Moonves noted that CBS “recently announced a deal to split-off our radio business in the best possible way through a tax-free transaction with Entercom. When completed, this transaction will allow us to focus even more on our core content strength and enable our faster-growing revenue to drive our results like never before.”
