Media Cos. Emphasize Caution

As the doom and gloom surrounding the overall economy continues to build, three of the biggest cable programmers — The Walt Disney Co., Time Warner Inc. and Scripps Networks Interactive — reported fourth-quarter earnings last week, painting an increasingly cloudy picture for the advertising market in the coming months. While results for the most part were in line with expectations, there were a few surprises — perennial Disney ad powerhouse ESPN showed declines in the quarter, for instance — and most executives were cautiously optimistic for the future. But the emphasis was on caution, as the uncertainty surrounding the economy and the advertising market is preventing many companies from making any predictions as to when a turnaround may occur or what the landscape may look like once it does.