Media Networks Revenues Up at Viacom

NEW YORK: Higher affiliate and ad revenues at its media networks helped Viacom overcome a 6-percent drop in filmed entertainment revenues in the second quarter, with overall net profit up 5 percent to $502 million.

Total Q2 revenues at the company, which today also announced its acquisition of Channel 5 in the U.K., rose slightly to $3.2 billion. The media networks contributed $2.4 billion, reflecting a 6-percent gain on the year-ago period. Affiliate revenues in the U.S. were up 11 percent, while internationally they rose by 10 percent. Ad revenue gains were smaller, rising just 2 percent in the U.S. and 3 percent internationally. The media networks delivered an operating profit of $949 million, a 9-percent boost.

At the filmed entertainment segment, meanwhile, profit plummeted from $65 million to $11 million, on revenues that were down 12 percent to $831 million. Theatrical revenues fell by 17 percent from Q2 of last year, and worldwide home entertainment fell by 30 percent.

Commenting on the results, Philippe Dauman, president and CEO, noted, "Viacom posted another strong quarter, resulting from our relentless focus on developing quality creative content and delivering it around the world in innovative ways. Our media networks remain in high demand, commanding a premium position with advertisers and achieving significant continued growth with both traditional and emerging distribution partners. In addition, Paramount kicked off its highly-anticipated summer slate with the successful release of Noah at the end of the quarter, to be followed by Transformers: Age of Extinction, Hercules and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in the coming months."