• by Wayne Friedman , February 29, 2008

Viacom witnessed major gains in the fourth quarter, thanks to DVD sales, video games, its movies and advertising revenues from cable networks. The company said net income rose 16.3% to $559.5 million, against the prior year's fourth quarter. Revenue climbed 19% to $4.25 billion.

Its key divisions--media networks and filmed entertainment--saw fourth-quarter revenues gain by 18% to $2.4 billion, and 19% to $1.84 billion, respectively. Operating income climbed 15% for media networks and 40% for filmed entertainment.

Worldwide advertising at the media networks was up 9% in the fourth quarter to $1.39 billion--a 5% gain from the third quarter. U.S. advertising growth was up 7%, largely because of better ratings at MTV and VH1. Worldwide affiliate fees grew 11% to $598 million. For the year, worldwide ad revenues increased 8% to $4.69 billion and worldwide affiliate fees grew 14% to $2.34 billion.

One analyst during the earnings call was concerned that other competing cable networks seemingly grew at a faster, double-digit percentage ad pace during the period than Viacom's MTV networks. Philippe Dauman, president/CEO for Viacom, noted that older-skewing networks are seemingly doing well in that regard--including Viacom's own TV Land.

For the quarter, its filmed entertainment unit was up 19%, due to big theatrical box-office successes, including "Transformers," "Shrek the Third," and "Bee Movie." DVD sales were also strong for "Transformers" and "Shrek the Third."

For the year, Viacom lifted the filmed entertainment revenues by 28% to $5.48 billion. Home entertainment revenues rose 18% to $2.49 billion and television license fees grew 15% to $1.29 billion.

Under its media network division, its worldwide ancillary revenues for the full year rose 27% to $1.07 billion, driven by big sales for the "Rock Band" video game, which was released in the fourth quarter. The division also benefited from royalties on other video games, including the "Guitar Hero" series.