ly for the station (from 1.5 to 1.4 during the 1991 to 1992 period), but a higher subscriber rate meant that the actual number of households receiving the station remained approximately the same. The Cartoon Network posted a small loss during its first year of operation, but posted a respectable rating of 0.8 during its first full month. Subscribers to the Cartoon Network increased to six million as of mid-1993.
Turner has realized success in broadcasting sporting events on its TNT channel. TNT and ESPN pay the same rights fees, although TNT covers the first half of the NFL season while ESPN covers the second half, when ratings are generally higher. Sports coverage costs are estimated to represent approximately one-third of the entertainment group; however, sports do not generally produce direct profit for the company because of the high rights fees extracted by the NFL and NBA. Sports coverage does allow the channel to be a higher-rate subscription service, bringing in 40 cents per subscriber per month because of its popularity with viewers.
Revenue in the news operation increased 15 percent during 1992 with operating income increasing a healthy 22 percent during the same period. CNN contributed to this increase by realizing advertising increases of 14 percent. The international component of CNN saw its advertising revenues increase 51 percent during 1992. CNN was able to increase its monthly subscriber rate by two cents at the beginning of 1993, due in part to its 35 percent increase in ratings. The international component of CNN saw an increase in subscriber fees of 39 percent, due in large part to new subscribers.
The syndication and licensing group had a 1992 decrease of 8 percent in its revenue due to higher distribution costs and lower syndication activity. The size of the loss was mitigated by higher home video rental revenues, but video rentals have lower margins than syndication.
The sports operation ...