When CBS corporate reports its quarterly earnings, radio is but a blip on the company TV screen. That will obviously change if the radio division is spun off, which some are predicting will happen early next year. Because CEO Les Moonves hardly pays attention to radio in his quarterly report, it’s impossible to ever know what the CBS Radio revenue is. It’s reported as part of “local broadcast,” which includes TV. Variety columnist Jan Dawson thinks he figured out the radio numbers.
Dawson writes by doing a little triangulation on the growth figures for local radio and TV, he estimates that radio generated $1.2 billion in revenue over each of the past three years, which he says was flat from 2013 to 2014, then shrinking by 6% in 2015. Dawson says that figure amounts to 8%-9% of CBS’ total revenue.
Dawson pontificates that the CBS plan to spin off radio is really about revenue diversification. He says, even in decline, “radio could be a solid revenue-driver for years to come.”
