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Cablevision reported that revenue for the first quarter grew 11%. The cable company’s growth can be accredited to an increase in cable subscribers, as well as the acquisition of Newsday and the Sundance Channel. In its filing, Cablevision also noted that the company is exploring the sale of the Madison Square Garden group, which includes the arena, the NY Knicks, the NY Rangers and Radio City Music Hall.
Thomas Reuter’s earnings were up 17.5% during the first quarter. While Reuter’s revenue skyrocketed 72% to $3.12 billion, the news service was unable to beat the street’s projected forecast of $3.18 billion. Despite revenue being up, the company’s market division, which accounts for roughly 60% of its revenue, grew only .4% during the quarter.
Warner Music Group has written off its investments in digital music start ups imeem and Lala. The company will take a $16 million write down for its investment in imeem, as well as an additional $11 courtesy of Lala. imeem, whose traffic is down 25% from last july, was on the brink of shutting down, due to having to pay royalties on every song streamed on the site, before investors injected some cash into the company this week.
Sirius XM lost 400,000 net subscribers during the first three months of 2009. The satellite radio company, which was also seriously hurt by the collapse of the auto industry, lost $236 million during the first quarter. To deal with fleeting subscribers, Sirius XM has raised the price of its family plan, and initiated a $2.99 charge for users who want to stream via the Internet.
CBS reported a net loss of $55.3 million for the first quarter. The loss comes a year after posting a profit of $244.3 million dollars. While revenue was at $3.2 billion, down from $3.5 billion last year, CEO Les Moonves was optimistic, saying “We are confident that the second half of the year will bring improved results due to a strong slate of syndication releases, the effect of cost reductions that were made last year and early signs of an improving local advertising marketplace.”