Viacom profit rises on "Rock Band", MTV

By Kenneth Li

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Viacom Inc (VIAb.N: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Friday quarterly net profit rose 33 percent, beating Wall Street forecasts, on strong sales of the "Rock Band" video game and higher advertising revenue at MTV Networks.

The owner of the Nickelodeon cable network and Paramount studios said it has seen no slowdown yet in U.S. advertising, temporarily addressing concerns that the credit crisis will lead to an advertising recession.

Based on ratings at its cable networks and rates for spot advertising, also called the scatter market, "we continue to expect our (second quarter) domestic advertising sales growth to be comparable to the first quarter," Viacom Chief Executive Philippe Dauman told analysts.

First-quarter profit rose to $270 million, or 42 cents per share, from $203 million, or a 29 cents per share, a year earlier.

Excluding a non-cash impairment charge for a minority investment, Viacom earned 44 cents per share, ahead of Wall Street forecasts of 41 cents, according to Reuters Estimates.

Revenue rose 15 percent to $3.1 billion, beating analysts' estimate of $3 billion.

"Investors have to be pretty pleased with what they've been showing over the last several quarters," said senior media analyst Robin Diedrich at Edward Jones. "They're delivering on expectations and better."

Nevertheless, Viacom shares have fallen 13 percent since the beginning of the year on concerns about the overall media industry's ability to weather a downturn. Shares fell 0.5 percent or 20 cents to $39.54 on the New York Stock Exchange, after rising 3.4 percent on Thursday.