Corus Entertainment Inc. said its radio stations are facing a worst case scenario as the weak economy continues to rip into its advertising revenues, causing the value of its radio assets to decline.

Chief executive John Cassaday delivered a relatively pessimistic outlook to analysts on Wednesday after reporting a net loss of $145 million for the third quarter.

“During our last call we were asked about our worst case scenario for radio this year, and we said it could be as bad as 8% [revenue decline],” he said. “It appears that this prediction is proving sadly to be correct.”

The Toronto-based broadcaster’s net loss compared to earnings of $37.7 million in the year-earlier period. The loss in the most recent quarter ended May 31 amounted to $1.81 per share compared to a profit of 45 cents per share last year.

Corus attributed much of the loss a $175-million impairment charge related to goodwill and the value of broadcast licences in its radio business.

“We predict that our radio business will remained challenged in the fourth quarter,” Cassaday said.

Many broadcasters have written down the value of their conventional TV and radio operations to reflect the declining value of those assets, which have been squeezed by slumping advertising revenues caused by the recession and the shift in business towards the Internet.

Stripping out the charge and other one-time items, Corus reported adjusted earnings per share of 36 cents. Analysts predicted the company would book adjusted earnings of 43 cents per share.

Corus said it’s sticking to its official financial guidance for the year but tacked on an additional cautionary note that it could miss its targets by between 2% and 4% on weaker ad revenues.

“I’d say we’d be extremely disappointed if that proved to be any greater than 2%,” Cassaday said.

Quarterly revenue fell 6% to $195.4 million compared to $207.8 million the year before. The revenue decline was most pronounced in the radio division, which reported a 15% dip in its top-line performance and a 35% drop in its segment profit.

The television sector fared better, with revenues sliding 1% and segment profit falling by 5%.

Desjardins Securities analyst Eric Bernofsky said that Corus’ weaker results confirm that advertising markets are still slowing down.

“The company expects weakness in advertising to continue to have a negative impact going forward,” he wrote in a note to clients.

Corus released its financial results a day after announcing a $40-million purchase of two specialty channels from CTVglobemedia. The acquisition of Drive-In Classics and SexTV is subject to approval from the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission.

Though publicly traded, Corus is controlled by the Calgary-based Shaw family, which owns the majority of its shares.

The company’s brands include YTV, Treehouse, W Network, CosmoTV, VIVA, Movie Central, HBO Canada and Nelvana. Corus radio stations include CKNW in Vancouver, CKOI in Montreal and Q107 in Toronto.