Following the lead of its old sibling Viacom, CBS has just come out with an earnings warning of its own. Blaming the ugly local ad market and the economic crisis, the company says quarterly earnings will come in at $.42-$.44, compared to $.51 in the year ago quarter. Unlike Viacom, the company doesn't have much to offset the horrible ad market -- no hot videogame, no a-cylical film business.
And with the bottom dropping out of the local business, the company is facing another issue: "Based on preliminary results, the Company expects to incur a non-cash impairment charge of approximately $14 Billion, in the third quarter of 2008 to reduce the carrying value of goodwill, intangible assets related to FCC licenses and investments."
