'American Idol' Owner CKX Posts Lower Quarterly, Full-Year Results

NEW YORK -- CKX Inc., the owner of the American Idol and So You Think You Can Dance franchises, reported a wider fourth-quarter loss due to lower revenue and recent restructuring efforts at the company's production firm 19 Entertainment.

CKX's quarterly loss of $14.9 million compared with the loss of $4.5 million in the year-ago period.

Revenue at CKX, which also owns the rights to name and likeness of Elvis Presley and Muhammad Ali, fell 53% to $37.5 million, mostly driven by lower revenue from So You Think You Can Dance, which had an additional season in 2009.

For the full year 2010, CKX swung to a loss of $15.7 million, compared with a 2009 profit of $22.8 million in 2009.

The lower So You Think You Can Dance revenue was a drag on operating profit as was a new deal with American Idol host Ryan Seacrest and a new creative consulting arrangement with Simon Fuller, the company said.

Full-year revenue declined 17% to $273.7 million, driven by the lack of an additional season of So You Think You Can Dance.

Revenue for American Idol rose by $11.9 million in 2010, the company said without breaking out the total figure.

"We completed a major restructuring of our businesses, re-focusing our efforts on our biggest brands while significantly reducing spending on unproductive development projects and general overhead," said CKX CEO Michael Ferrel. "We also made a number of significant changes to our hit television property American Idol." He added that "these efforts are already paying off," and that CKX remains "optimistic" about its businesses.

As a result of the restructuring program, the company has reduced its expenses at 19 Entertainment by about $20 million annually.