What To Expect From CBS’ Q4 Earnings

CBS Corporation (NYSE:CBS) will report its Q4 and full year 2015 earnings on February 11th. We expect the company to benefit from a double-digit increase in Q4 broadcast ad spending. ^[1] CBS did well in 2015, with flat viewership and only a 5% decline in key demographic ratings compared to the prior year period. This is remarkable given the headwinds from the growth of digital video platforms, which has led to viewership declines on several networks. Looking at other broadcasting networks, Fox was down 15% while NBC dropped 9% in key demographics in 2015. ^[2] CBS should also benefit from continued growth in retransmission consent revenues, which it expects to be north of $1 billion this year.

Looking at CBS’ cable networks, it should continue to post steady subscription growth. It should be noted that CBS’ Showtime and Time Warner’s HBO are some of the popular cable networks that have been able to post subscriber growth even in the recent years with increased cord-cutting amid growth of alternative video platforms. This can be attributed to popular content such as Game of Thrones and Homeland, among others, which have seen massive demand across the globe. We’ll be closely watching the subscriber trends at Showtime. Showtime also launched its over-the-top streaming service in 2015, which should aid the overall cable network revenues for CBS. Below we discuss the key factors that will impact revenue growth for the company.

See our complete analysis for CBS Corporation 

View Interactive Institutional Research (Powered by Trefis):

Global Large Cap | U.S. Mid & Small Cap | European Large & Mid Cap
More Trefis Research

1. Broadcast TV Advertising Spending Jumped 13% to End 2015, AdWeek, Jan 25, 2015 [↩]
2. 2015 TV Ratings: ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC Battle For Bragging Rights, The Wrap, Dec 22, 2015 [↩]