Time Warner posted revenues of $7.5 billion, beating Wall Street’s expectations.
Adjusted earnings per share rose to 97 cents a share. Analysts had predicted 88 cents on average, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
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Revenues excluding Time Inc. increased 10 percent to $6.8 billion. Adjusted Operating Income excluding Time Inc. grew 12 percent to $1.6 billion. The company plans to spin off Time Inc. as an indepent, publicly traded company this quarter.
Warner Bros. revenues increased 14 percent ($385 million) to $3.1 billion, mainly due to a stronger theatrical slate, led by “The Lego Movie” and “300: Rise of an Empire.”
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Home Box Office boasted the most-watched freshman series in its history with “True Detective,” and the Season 4 premiere of “Game of Thrones” on April 6 drew HBO’s largest audience since “The Sopranos” finale.
The NCAA Tournament helped TBS maintain its position as ad-supported cable’s top primetime network among adults 18-34 and 18-49. CNN, boosted by Malaysia Airlines Fligth 370 coverage, was up 50 percent in its key demographic in March. And Adult Swim, finished the quarter as the top ad-supported cable network in total day for adults 18-34.
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On the subsequent earnings conference call, CEO Jeff Bewkes (pictured) did admit to some struggles on television, specifically with TruTV (“significant drop-off in performance”) and TNT. On the latter, the Time Warner chief commented: “We didn’t take enough creative risk with its programming, and as a result, TNT has lost some ground with younger viewers.”
Overall though, he’s quite pleased. “We are off to a very strong start in 2014, with results that demonstrate both the returns we can achieve on our investments in great storytelling and the growth potential of our businesses,” said Bewkes.
Tony Maglio contributed to this report