• by Wayne Friedman , February 8, 2007

Walt Disney Co.'s first-quarter fiscal profits zoomed upward--doubling its results from a year ago, thanks to soaring DVD sales of "Pirates of the Caribbean" and "Cars."

Overall net income increased to $1.7 billion versus $734 million, with revenues moving up 10% to $9.7 billion.

Disney also had strong results from ESPN and ABC Networks that contributed to its big growth. The entire Disney media network group witnessed operating income improvement of 24% to $750 million during the quarter.

Operating income from its cable networks grew 22% to $453 million; its broadcasting operations climbed 27% to $297 million.

ESPN saw big gains from its NFL "Monday Night Football" package due to big advertising price increases. For its TV stations' business, Disney said it grabbed higher political ad revenues. There were also strong DVD sales of Touchstone Television programs from hit shows "Grey's Anatomy" and "Lost."

As for the current TV advertising market, Tom Staggs, senior executive vice president and CFO of Disney, says scatter prices are up 10%. "It's generally a strong scatter market," he noted. "[That said], there is not a lot of inventory out there. There is less inventory to sell, [but] we have some of the most sought-after shows."

Disney Parks and Resorts moved somewhat more slowly during the period, with revenues climbing 4% to $2.5 billion; operating income improved 8% to $405 million. Many of these gains were from improvements at Walt Disney World. Pulling down results were declines at Hong Kong Disneyland and the Disneyland Resort.

Disney is also now benefiting from deeper integration of Pixar Animation characters into many aspects of its businesses, including theme parks.

Concerning Disney digital and Internet initiatives, Staggs said the company is on pace to grab $700 million in revenues this year.