CBS Corp. reported that its third-quarter revenue fell 3.3%, which the entertainment giant blamed on the timing of television licensing sales and decreases in pay-per-view revenue.

Revenue declined to $3.26 billion from $3.37 billion a year earlier. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had expected revenue of $3.27 billion.

Shares of CBS, down 11% over the past year through the 4 p.m. close, fell 1.6% to $47.49 in recent after-hours trading. The company said the decline in overall revenue also included the impact from the nonrenewal of a sports contract.

CBS Chief Executive Leslie Moonves has maintained that the company faces fewer worries from cord-cutters because it has fewer channels to distribute and has the most-watched broadcast network.

At the same time, CBS has been spending to create its own "over-the-top" services such as its CBS All Access as well as an Internet-delivered version of its premium channel Showtime, which was introduced in July.

In addition to updates on the CBS's fall television season, investors likely will be looking for any breakout of results at its over-the-top offerings.

Overall, for the third quarter, CBS reported a profit of $426 million, or 88 cents a share, down from $1.64 billion, or $3.03 a share, a year earlier. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected per-share profit of 81 cents.

The year-earlier period included a gain of $1.56 billion related to the sale of CBS's majority stake in CBS Outdoors America Inc., which split off from the media giant in 2014.

In the latest quarter, CBS's affiliate and subscription fee revenue rose 9.2% to $664 million but was offset by a 4.3% decline in advertising revenue and an 8.3% drop in content and licensing revenue.

Cable revenue, which includes Showtime, CBS Sports Network and Smithsonian Networks, fell 16% to $526 million.

Local television division revenue decreased 6.2% to $638 million.

Entertainment revenue—which includes the broadcast network, CBS Television studios and CBS films—improved 1.1% to $1.93 billion.

Write to Tess Stynes at tess.stynes@wsj.com

Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 03, 2015 16:55 ET (21:55 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2015 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
CBS (NYSE:CBS)
Historical Stock Chart
From Mar 2024 to Apr 2024 Click Here for more CBS Charts.
CBS (NYSE:CBS)
Historical Stock Chart
From Apr 2023 to Apr 2024 Click Here for more CBS Charts.