Media stocks are among biggest losers in afternoon trading

NEW YORK (AP) — Big media companies led the stock market lower today as investors fretted over fading revenue from cable television. Viacom and 21st Century Fox were among the hardest hit.

As of 2:27 p.m. Eastern time, the Standard & Poor's 500 index was down 17 points, or 0.8 percent, to 2,083. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 122 points, or 0.7 percent, to 17,419, and the Nasdaq composite lost 83 points, or 1.6 percent, to 5,058.

Walt Disney and other media giants sank after signs that more people are ditching cable TV. Viacom, the company behind Comedy Central and Nickelodeon, reported today that its sales and profit fell in the most-recent quarter. 21st Century Fox, which owns MTV, also reported a drop in television revenue. Viacom's stock plunged 14 percent, and 21st Century Fox lost 7 percent.

"We're at the back end of earnings season and the broad market has been in a tight trading range," said Rob Eschweiler, a global investment specialist at J.P. Morgan Private Bank in Houston. "But under the surface, you're seeing some volatility among single stocks. You don't usually see media names move like this."