RealNetworks (NSDQ: RNWK) lowered its fourth quarter expectations about two weeks ago, so today’s announcement that the company had a weak quarter was less of a jolt. Total revenue dropped 3 percent to $152.6 million, and EBITDA fell to a loss of $14.5 million. Taking into account one-time impairment charges related to layoffs and deferred project costs, EBITDA was $11.3 million, down from $15.7 million in 2007. Music and games had a strong quarter, but the company was weighed down by losses at the media software and services and technology products and services divisions. Specifically:

SEE ALSO: RealNetworks Breaks Out Subscriber Numbers For First Time: 775,000 Pay For Rhapsody

—Games revenue grew 9 percent.
—Music revenue was up 8 percent.
—Media software and services was down 11 percent.
—Technology products and services decreased 13 percent.
—Rhapsody subscribers grew to 775,000 from 600,000 in Q407
—Radio subscribers fell to 1,225,000 from 1,275,000 in Q407.

The company did not include 2009 guidance in its release, but did say that the first quarter of 2009 would likely be worse than fourth quarter of 2008.  Specifically, music revenue would be up, it said, while games revenue would be flat, and the media software and services/technology products and services divisions would continue to decline. 

Earnings release | Financials | Webcast (requires RealPlayer) | Transcript

Update: Staci adds I had some technical trouble with part of the call so relying on the Seeking Alpha transcript. Interestingly, the subscriber numbers we broke out in another post didn’t come up in the Q&A. Some notes:

—M&A: Asked about the current climate providing an opportunity for acquisitions, RNWK Chairman and CEO Rob Glaser said Real is looking. “... We have absolutely increased how active we are. I would say the pipeline of opportunities we’re looking at is wider than I can ever recall it being. I’d say we probably have put some criteria in place with regard to our belief in the value creation opportunity transactions that are even a little bit more stringent than the ones that we might have had three months ago.”

—Rhapsody America JV: Glaser talked about increased awareness but admitted they haven’t been able to convert “increased awareness to driven purchase” as much as they’d hoped, attributing that to a number of reasons—especially that it’s trying to sell an “abstract service.” Glaser: “Some of the things we’re looking at are ways to make that connection more tangible and more palpable to people; whether 30 and 60 second media is the best environment for that remains to be seen. We’re looking at some other alternatives and ... we’re going to keep plugging away at iterating and finding what we think is an optimal mix.”