NBC TV Expects Earnings to Rise 15%

NBC Television said Thursday that it expected pretax earnings to climb 15% to $1.6 billion this year on the strength of its popular prime-time shows, news programs and stronger advertising sales at stations.

NBC, which is owned by General Electric Co., made its projections to analysts in New York.

GE expects profit at its company-owned TV stations to rise 25% this year, from $550 million in 2001. The company owns 13 NBC stations and acquired 12 Spanish-language stations in its $2.7-billion purchase of Telemundo.

The NBC News division, including “Nightly News With Tom Brokaw,” “Today” and “Meet the Press,” should record pretax earnings of $240 million to $260 million this year, executives told analysts.

The weak link is the company’s cable television division, in which earnings are expected to be flat with 2001, at about $360 million for the year.

Company executives said that although MSNBC had enjoyed a 17% increase in viewership, it had not captured a large enough share of the cable news market. They said MSNBC would shuffle its prime-time schedule in July.

NBC, which boasts such top-ranked shows as “Friends,” “ER” and “The West Wing,” has the most stable schedule of any network.

NBC is introducing five programs for the coming season, and Fox Broadcasting is placing 10 new prime-time shows on the air. ABC is introducing nine shows, and CBS will have seven.

GE plans to shave costs by consolidating some sales and news-gathering operations in cities with NBC and Telemundo stations.

The company expects Telemundo’s advertising revenue to grow this year by more than 30%. The Spanish-language network has sold about $225 million in commercial spots for the new season, up from $175 million sold in advance last year.

Telemundo still commands less than a third of the Spanish-language TV market, trailing Univision Communications Inc. of Los Angeles.

GE shares closed Thursday at $29.90, up 40 cents, on the New York Stock Exchange.