BURBANK,CALIF.: Liberman Media posted a second-quarter loss of $1.3 million on revenues of $30.7 million. Revenues were up 9 percent from restated results from a year ago, when Liberman posted net income of $481,000. Liberman said the change was “attributable to the increases in program and technical expenses and broadcast license and long-lived asset impairment charges, partially offset by higher net revenues, and lower income tax expenses.”
“Our second quarter results represent our second consecutive quarter of year-over-year revenue growth, which was driven by improvement in our TV segment and by the performance of Estrella TV,” said company President and CEO Lenard Liberman. “We remain pleased with the performance and steady distribution gains of Estrella TV.”
Estrella is the Spanish-language network launched by Liberman last fall. It gained three affiliate agreements during the quarter, when the acquisition of KETD in Denver was also completed.
Estrella and Liberman’s eight TV stations generated $14.3 million in revenue, up nearly 26 percent from last year. The increase represented the industrywide boost in advertising in addition to Estrella’s growth.
“Estrella TV continues to deliver solid performance in the Nielsen ratings,” Liberman said. “We ranked fourth among the many nationally rated Spanish-language television networks in primetime for May sweeps in the adult demographics. We expect our ratings performance to improve as we continue to invest in our internally-produced programming, add new affiliates and further expand our distribution platform.”
Liberman also owns 21 radio stations that generated $16.4 million, down 2 percent. Liberman ended the quarter June 30, 2010, with cash and equivalents of $491,000, and long-term debt excluding current portion of $391.7 million. The June figures compare to $178,000 cash and $375.5 million in long-term debt Dec. 31, 2009.
-- Deborah D. McAdams
May 18, 2010: “Estrella TV Drives Revenues for LBI”
Liberman Broadcasting Inc., parent company of Estrella TV, ended the first quarter with a 10 percent increase in revenues over last year’s restated results.
