Disney's profits hurt by soft ad market

Disney said operating profit at ABC-TV and the owned radio and TV station groups fell a combined 42 percent in the quarter ended June 30, to $244 million on a 12 percent revenue decline to $1.321 billion. Company executives cited the bad advertising market and increased programming costs for the drop.

Operating income for the company's cable networks dropped 6 percent for the
quarter, to $226 million, on a 7 percent revenue decline to $814 million.

Results at ESPN were down due to a drop in ad sales, which was partially
offset by increased subscriber fees, company executives said.

For the first nine months, broadcasting operating income is down 28 percent
to $723 million on a 9 percent revenue drop to $4.454 billion.

Cable network profits were basically flat at $826 million, on a 10 percent
revenue gain to $2.798 billion.