Cord-cutting squeezed Viacom Inc. earnings as the owner of cable channels MTV, Comedy Central and Nickelodeon struggles to improve its fortunes in a more challenging media environment.
Viacom said its revenue increased 3 percent to $3.3 billion in its fiscal fourth quarter, beating analysts' expectations. However, domestic TV advertising revenue was flat and affiliate fees from satellite and cable TV operators declined 3 percent.
For the quarter that ended Sept. 30, Viacom produced net earnings from continuing operations of $674 million, up from $254 million in the comparable quarter last year.
Viacom's share price has slumped all year over worries whether pay-TV operators would continue to pay premiums to carry Viacom's television channels. Its shares are down more than 30 percent since January.
The company, however, was able to strike a hard-fought distribution deal with cable giant Charter Communications in the quarter, keeping its largest channels in the most popular packages.
Viacom's Paramount Pictures, meanwhile, posted an adjusted operating loss of $43 million. The results were dragged down by a $59 million expense due to the termination of a film financing deal with the Chinese firm Huahua Media.
Paramount had been banking on that deal to provide a quarter of the financing for its film slate over three years, but the studio's new leadership cobbled together several smaller partnerships to pick up the slack.
In a bright spot, revenue at the movie studio increased 2 percent to $789 million with higher licensing revenue from its television operations and film licensing. However, theatrical revenues fell 43 percent, to $115 million, because of its weak film slate that included the disappointing "Mother!" from Darren Aronofsky.
Domestic ticket sales were down 75 percent; international sales fell 12 percent. Paramount ranks seventh at the box office, trailing the other major film studios, and claims just 5 percent of the market, according to Box Office Mojo.
Paramount's loss was significantly smaller than in the comparable quarter in 2016.
At Viacom's cable television unit, revenue increased 3 percent to $2.55 billion on higher advertising revenues. International revenue was up 24 percent to $593 million with the purchase of a South American operation, while domestic revenue slipped 2 percent to $1.96 billion.
Advertising revenue was up 6 percent to $1.22 billion. Domestic advertising was flat at $936 million.
Affiliate fees declined 1 percent to $1.15 billion.
