BURBANK, CALIF.: Liberman Broadcasting Inc. is continuing to cut its losses a year after launching Spanish-language network, Estrella TV. LBI reported a $5.2 million loss on revenues of $30.7 million for the quarter ending Sept. 30. LBI’s 3Q09 loss was $70.2 million on revenues of $27.5 million.
Net revenues for the LBI TV segment increased by 29.6 percent to$14.3 million for 3Q10. The increase was attributed to incremental revenue from the Estrella TV television network, as well as growth in the company’s California markets. LBI owns full-power TV stations in Los Angeles, San Bernardino and San Diego, Calif. It has several more affiliated stations in the state.
“Our results this quarter represent the third consecutive quarter of year-over-year revenue growth, led primarily by the performance of our core television markets and the contribution of Estrella TV,” company CEO Lenard Liberman said. “We are pleased that our investments in original programming are now starting to produce additional returns through the development of a Hispanic television network. Going forward, we will continue to invest in and strengthen our content through new and compelling programming, as well as continuing to improve our distribution platform, so that Estrella TV could one day be enjoyed by all Hispanic viewers in the U.S.”
Estrella now clears 77 percent of U.S. Hispanic households, according to Liberman.
The net losses reported for 3Q10 included a write-down of $5.4 million on the broadcast licenses. The 3Q09 result included a $75 million write-down on the licenses. Liberman finished 3Q10 with $194,000 in cash and equivalents and $1.36 million in current portion of long-term debt. Excluding current portion, long-term debt was $397,438.
-- Deborah D. McAdams
