• by Gavin O'Malley  @mp_gavin, December 9, 2008

Less than a week after Viacom announced plans to cut about 7% of its workforce, its President and CEO Philippe Dauman said Monday that the company is well positioned to compete and grow in the current economic climate.

"We like our strategic position in any environment," he told attendees at the UBS Global Media and Communications Conference in New York. "We have all the attributes to continue to grow."

Viacom said it was slashing more than 850 jobs and freezing salary increases next year for many employees, including all senior managers.

The cuts came with news of a $400 million-$450 million charge the company plans to take this quarter due largely to what Dauman called "program abandonment" at struggling properties like MTV and VH1.

Among various other "odds and ends," Dauman said the company was consolidating its New York presence from six offices to three.

Dauman said there would be no salary increases this year either, and that the company would continue to focus on organic growth, rather than large acquisitions.

"We may see discreet opportunities in the future, but I don't think you should expect any large acquisitions from us," said Dauman. "We manage our company very tightly."

According to Dauman, Viacom's largest acquisition over the past year was Harmonix, a company that controls the "Rock Band" video franchise.

Addressing Web content and platforms, Dauman touted Viacom's stable of some 350 Web sites, and the company's continued willingness to experiment with new distribution platforms such as Joost and Hulu.

"We've made enormous progress in that area, and we're very well positioned," Dauman said.

With regard to Hulu, the online video hub jointly controlled by NBC Universal and News Corp., Dauman said Viacom is still evaluating the success of experiments with shows like Comedy Central's "The Daily Show."

In terms of the overall ad market, Dauman said little has changed for the company since it estimated that advertising would be down 2% year-over-year during last month's third-quarter earnings call.

"Nothing much has changed," said Dauman. "We're seeing a normal level of cancellations right now."