Rentrak earnings fall less than expected

TV ratings service 'on target' for Q1 '09 launch

By Danny King -- Video Business, 11/4/2008

NOV. 4 | Rentrak, whose businesses include DVD distribution and home entertainment data tracking, said today that its fiscal second-quarter earnings fell less than analysts expected because of a surge in sales from its advanced media and information unit, which supplies business data to subscribers. The company also said its TV ratings service will meet the company’s deadline for an early 2009 launch.

Rentrak’s net income for the quarter ended Sept. 30 fell 24% to $842,000, or 8¢ a share, from $1.11 million, or 10¢, a year earlier, as sales increased 6.8% to $24.3 million, the company said today. Rentrak was expected to earn 7¢ a share on sales of $23.5 million.

Sales at Rentrak’s advanced media and information unit jumped 23% as customers spent more on the company’s media measurement services. The company expects further advances in the division’s sales as its TV Essentials service, which will compete with research firms such as Nielsen in the TV ratings field, is “on target” to debut by March 2009.

“We are proud that Rentrak’s business continues to show stability in this very difficult environment,” Rentrak CEO Paul Rosenbaum said in the statement. “There are many exciting things happening at Rentrak every single day, especially as we move closer to the commercial launch of TV Essentials.”

Rentrak’s pay-per-transaction division, which accounts for most of the company’s sales, had a revenue increase of 5%, the company said today. The division benefitted as overall DVD demand fared better than other entertainment categories such as music CDs, while traditional movie-rental chains such as Blockbuster reversed its revenue slide and beat year-earlier same-store sales.