Discovery's Quarterly Revenue Rises 12 Percent

Discovery Communications reported yesterday that first-quarter revenue was up 12 percent, to $795 million from $710 million, on the strength of advertising and subscriber revenue at its television networks.

Discovery Holding, controlled by billionaire media mogul John Malone, owns two-thirds of Silver Spring's Discovery Communications, home to such popular cable television shows as "MythBusters" and "Man vs. Wild." The remaining third of the television network is owned by Discovery founder John S. Hendricks and Advance/Newhouse Communications.

Discovery is in the process of becoming publicly traded. The company is expected to soon file its going-public documents at the Securities and Exchange Commission.

For the first quarter, Discovery's operating cash flow increased 51 percent, to $286 million from $190 million.

Discovery gave its Travel Channel to former shareholder Cox Communications in May 2007 as part of a deal to buy Cox's 25 percent stake in Discovery. Excluding the Travel Channel, Discovery's first-quarter revenue this year was up 19 percent and its cash flow was up 59 percent.

At Discovery's U.S. cable channels, first-quarter revenue was up 3 percent, to $491 million from $477 million. Operating cash flow increased 18 percent, to $247 million from $210 million. The remainder of Discovery's revenue came from its growing overseas operations.

The company reports cash flow as its most meaningful performance measure because, like many privately held companies, consistent cash flow is required to pay down debt.

Discovery's debt at the end of the first quarter was $4.1 billion, up from $2.9 billion in the comparable period last year, largely because of a $1.5 billion loan to buy out Cox, the company said.