-By Anthony Crupi

CBS Corp. executive chairman Sumner Redstone got his company’s third-quarter earnings call off to a portentous start, telling investors, “the light at the end of the tunnel continues each day to get brighter.” In past quarters, that beam would have been an express train hurtling towards the media economy. But on balance, CBS’ results suggest that recovery may be at hand.

On Nov. 5, CBS Corp CEO Leslie Moonves said the “operating environment continues to improve steadily,” as the broadcast network has begun to see increased demand from the auto and pharma categories. Overall, TV ad sales were down 5 percent to $1 billion, and while CBS does not break out results for the network and local stations, chief financial officer Joseph Ianniello said CBS ad revenue was “up slightly for the quarter.”

Moonves said Q4 scatter pricing is up 25 percent over upfront, adding that Q1 ’10 cancellations are “almost nonexistent.” In fact, the CBS chief said some sponsors already regret not having spent more in the summer bazaar. “I’ve had a number of agencies tell me they’re sorry their clients didn’t listen and buy more in the upfront,” Moonves said.

News Corp.’s TV revenues in the three months ended Sept. 30 fell 8 percent to $765 million, on constricting ad sales at the Fox network and its stations group. Chairman Rupert Murdoch noted that auto and movies were the biggest drag on the TV business, although Fox’s sports properties sold softly too, as NFL and MLB dollars were off from a year ago.

As with rival CBS, things are looking up at Fox. “October is flat…and November is up in the mid-teens,” Murdoch said. “It’s the best we’ve seen in seven quarters.”

News Corp. said ad sales were down in the mid-single digits at the company’s biggest earner, the cable networks unit, although affiliate fees helped lift the group’s overall revenue 10 percent to $1.61 billion.

Walt Disney Co. isn’t due to report earnings until Nov. 12, but Wall St. anticipates its results will be in line with Fox. Oppenheimer analyst Jason Helfstein expects the broadcaster will post a 7 percent revenue dip vs. the year-ago period, on weak auto and consumer electronics spend. Helfstein also eyeballed a 7 percent dip in ad sales at ESPN, which is particularly exposed to the vicissitudes of auto and financial.

Cable seems to be experiencing a more dramatic turnaround, as major network groups enjoyed year-on-year upticks. Discovery Communications’ Q3 ad sales were up 5 percent to $261 million, while Turner improved by a low-single-digit percentage as TNT and TBS gains were offset by weaker demand at CNN. Rainbow showed the most growth (up 18 percent).

Upon factoring in adjustments for ratings guarantees, Comcast ad sales were flat, while Scripps Networks gained 0.5 percent. Ratings-challenged Viacom dropped 4 percent, and Hallmark Channel sales fell 7 percent to $46.3 million.