ENGELWOOD, Colo.—Media company Liberty Media Corp. said Monday its second-quarter revenue rose in all three of its business units, including QVC and Starz television.
Revenue from Liberty Interactive Group, which includes QVC Shopping Network and a variety of online assets, rose 9 percent to $1.95 billion.
QVC revenue rose 4 percent to $1.76 billion.
“The challenging economic environment continues, however we are pleased with our disciplined approach to margin, expense and capital management,” said Mike George, QVC president and chief executive.
Revenue from Liberty Entertainment group, which includes a 49 percent stake of The DirecTV Group Inc. and 100 percent of Starz Entertainment LLC, rose 32 percent to $359 million, helped by Starz and the addition of Liberty Sports Group which was acquired in February.
Starz Entertainment revenue rose 8 percent to $275 million, helped by higher effective rates for its services across the Starz and Encore pay TV channels.
In a conference call with analysts, Liberty Chairman John Malone dismissed rumors of the possible merger between satellite television provider DirecTV and its chief rival, Dish Network Corp., which was spun off in January from EchoStar Communications Corp.
“It would be very synergistic if it were doable. However, we don’t see that the regulatory environment has changed since the last time we made comments on the subject,” Malone said. “We think it would be problematic to try and merge the two companies in the current regulatory environment.”
Revenue from Liberty Capital Group, which includes the Atlanta Braves and interests in Time Warner Inc. and Sprint Nextel Corp., rose 33 percent to $174 million. Results were boosted by the acquisition of the Braves in May 2007.
The company said consolidated cash edged up less than 1 percent to $3.89 billion but did not provide profit or per-share figures for the three months ended June 30.
The company also announced that it had repurchased 14 percent of the outstanding shares of Liberty Capital in the quarter.
Each of its three units has a separate tracking stock.
Liberty Interactive shares rose 13 cents to $14.40; Liberty Entertainment added 66 cents to $26.44; and Liberty Capital shares gained 13 cents to $16.02.
