-By Anthony Crupi

Cablevision on Tuesday announced it had tripled its third-quarter earnings, posting net profit of $98.9 million, or 33 cents a share, up from $30.9 million, or 10 cents a share, in the year-ago period.

Revenue jumped 5.3 percent to $1.84 billion, as the company’s core cable operations business and its Rainbow Media networks division showed significant growth.

For the quarter, Cablevision’s MSO revenue grew 4.5 percent to $1.3 billion as digital penetration increased to 94 percent of the operator’s subscriber base. Cablevision serves some 3.31 million subscribers in Long Island and parts of Brooklyn, N.Y.; New Jersey; and Westchester, N.Y.

Results at the programming unit suggest that the ad market has begun to rebound, as the Rainbow networks saw ad sales revenue soar 18.2 percent versus Q3 2008, driven by higher units sold at AMC and improved ratings at WE tv. (The female-targeted net saw prime-time deliveries increase 11 percent in Q3, to 323,000 total viewers, although target demos were down slightly.) By comparison, in Q2 of 2009, Rainbow ad sales revenue grew just 2.3 percent over the year-ago period.

Network operating income at the core properties (AMC, IFC and WE) jumped 23.2 percent to $79.2 million, while total revenue for the three nets grew 11.4 percent to $206.2 million.

While local advertising saw a 9.7 percent decline versus a year ago, the $28 million Cablevision took in during Q3 represented a 7.7 percent sequential increase when compared to Q2 ($26 million). Local ad sales account for just 1.5 percent of Cablevision’s overall revenue haul.

Chief operating officer Tom Rutledge did not offer guidance for how the ad market was shaping up in the final quarter of the year, saying only, “If advertising is a leading indicator for the economy, then there is some glimmer of hope.”

Rutledge added that “more traditional advertisers had returned to the market,” and noted the economic rebound of the last few months was “manifesting itself in advertising.”

When asked how Cablevision would price its advanced-advertising services, a suite of interactive ad platforms that includes the newly launched Optimum Select, Rutledge said the company was still kicking the tires on the model. “We’re experimenting with the best way to do it, but the interesting thing is we can determine the effectiveness of advertising and price it accordingly,” he said.

Cablevision opened its earnings call by assuring investors that it was moving forward with the spinoff of its MSG division, after having received a ruling on the tax-free nature of the planned transaction. MSG houses a number of high-profile assets, including Madison Square Garden, Radio City Music Hall and the New York Knicks and Rangers franchises.

“We’re hopeful that it can close on or around December 31,” said Cablevision executive vp Gregg Seibert. The company plans to meet with potential investors after Thanksgiving.

Over the last 12 months, Cablevision shares have increased in value by 31 percent. In mid-morning trading, shares were up 2.97 percent to $23.95.