CBS Profits Jump 22% To $443M For Q1 On Super Bowl Ad Revenue

CBS’ Q1 profit rose 22% "after the media company commanded record advertising rates for its Super Bowl broadcast,” according to Mia Lamar of the WALL STREET JOURNAL. Ad revenue rose 8% to $2.46B. CBS said that “excluding the impact of the Super Bowl, that ad revenue growth was in the low single-digit range.” CBS reported a profit of $443M million, "up from a year-earlier profit" of $363M. Revenue rose 6.4% to $4.04B (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 5/2). CBS said that revenue for its entertainment assets rose 10%. VARIETY’s Brian Steinberg noted the increases were “partially offset by having one less week of regular-season NFL games to telecast as well as the timing of the semifinals” of the NCAA D-I Men’s Basketball Championship, which aired during Q2 in ‘13 compared with Q1 in ‘12. The results “show just how powerful a catalyst the Super Bowl is for media companies” (VARIETY.com, 5/1).