CBS Corp., owner of the most-watched US television network, reported third-quarter profit of $207.6 million, beating analysts’ estimates on higher sales of reruns and daytime programs.

Net income of 30 cents a share compared with a loss of $12.5 billion, or $18.58 a share, a year earlier, when the company wrote down radio and TV stations, CBS said yesterday.

Excluding some items, profit totaled 39 cents, compared with the 23-cent average of 19 analysts’ estimates.

Chief Executive Officer Leslie Moonves is leading the industry in obtaining retransmission fees from cable and satellite TV systems. They may amount to as much as $200 million by 2012 or 2013, he said in September. CBS gets almost two-thirds of sales from advertising. News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch is pursuing similar payments for Fox (News Corp. owns The Post).

Revenue fell less than 1 percent to $3.35 billion, beating estimates of $3.2 billion. Advertising sales slid 5 percent while television license fees gained 36 percent on revenue from shows including “Medium” and “Criminal Minds.”