CBS Corp., owner of the most-watched U.S. television network, reported a steep drop in quarterly profit, hurt mainly by a pension settlement charge.

Shares of the company, which also owns cable channel Showtime, fell 1.13 percent at $64.50 after the bell on Wednesday.

Advertising sales, which accounts for half of the company's total revenue, fell 2.8 percent to $1.80 billion partially due to fewer NFL Thursday night football games this quarter as well as lower-than-expected ratings for those games.

CBS, which is home to popular shows such as "NCIS" and "The Big Bang Theory," has been facing a slowdown in its advertising revenue as advertisers shift more dollars from TV to online.

Revenue from its content licensing and distribution business fell 11.9 percent to $893 million.

CBS, like many of its peers, is focused on increasing revenue through deals with streaming video providers.

Last year, CBS signed deals with Hulu and Alphabet Inc.'s Google to be included in their upcoming video streaming services, which are expected to go live in the next few months.

Apart from its main stay cable business, CBS is also home to radio stations and publishing house Simon & Schuster.

The company's net income from continuing operations fell to $271 million, or 63 cents per share, in the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31 from $507 million, or $1.07 per share, a year earlier

Total revenue fell 2 percent to $3.52 billion.

On an adjusted basis, the company earned $1.11 per share.