SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — CBS Corp. pounced on an advertising revival in the broadcast media to produce a 53 percent increase in its third-quarter net income.

The results announced yesterday mark the third consecutive quarter of financial improvement at CBS, which owns the most watched TV network in the US. That followed a slump triggered by the worst recession since World War II.

CBS executives predicted the momentum will build into 2011 and underscored their confidence by committing to spend $1.5 billion buying back the company's stock beginning in January.

"CBS is firing on all cylinders," chairman Sumner Redstone said in a conference call.

Like other broadcasters, CBS benefited from political campaigns that spent more money than expected on ads to get out their messages leading up to this week's election. Companies also have been buying more ads to peddle their wares in recent months.

Those trends helped generate a 25 percent increase in ad revenue at the 28 TV stations that CBS owns and a nine percent increase at the company's 130 radio stations.

"The broadcast advertising marketplace remains strong both nationally and locally," CBS CEO Leslie Moonves said.

The owners of two other major TV networks, News Corp.'s Fox and General Electric Co.'s NBC, already have reported robust ad gains. Walt Disney Corp., the owner of ABC, is scheduled to release its quarterly results next week.

Google Inc., which runs the Internet's largest ad network, has been selling more advertising as the year progressed, too.