Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquaio helped CBS beat Wall Street’s Q2 expectations, with the pay-per-view boxing event driving affiliate and subscription fees growth 28 percent, the company reported on Wednesday.
The film, TV and media company announced earnings of 74 cents per share for the second quarter of 2015 on Wednesday, surpassing Wall Street expectations of $0.72 EPS. The number is slightly down from the company’s 76 cents per share earnings a year ago.
CBS also reported revenue of $3.22 billion, which is slightly up from $3.2 billion billion a year ago. The company also announced that it would take a $55 million restructuring charge related to its radio and TV station operations.
“CBS is at the center of the action during an extremely exciting time in media,” CBS Corporation Executive Chairman Sumner Redstone said in a statement. “We continue to succeed as a result of our world-class content, and Les and his team are positioning the Company to prosper in the quarters and years ahead.”
“This quarter underscores the key steps we are taking to build out our long-term growth strategy,” President and CEO Leslie Moonves added. “Central to that strategy is the progress we’re seeing with our fast-growing, nonadvertising revenue sources, and there’s so much more to come as our investment in global content and new distribution pathways pays off. We are now on target to surpass our goal of $2 billion in retransmission consent and reverse compensation revenue by 2020 — thanks to a series of recent deals that reset the value of our content in the marketplace.
“Additionally,” Moonves said, “the launch of Showtime’s streaming service and the rapid expansion of CBS All Access are generating incremental revenue streams that will continue to grow in the years ahead.”
The Mayweather-Pacquaio fight, described as the highest-grossing pay-per-
view boxing event of all time, aired on Showtime and grossed more than $600 million.
In a conference call with analysts and media, Moonves revealed that the company’s retransmission and reverse compensation would exceed $2 billion by 2020. He also touted CBS’ new fall shows, including “Limitless” and “Supergirl,” and said ad spending on Super Bowl 50 was at an all-time high, with 30-second spots going for $5 million.