Viacom Profits With Help From Star Trek XI
2 min readThe fourth quarter and full year revenue results for Viacom Inc. (parent company of Paramount) were released and the company did better than had been expected by Wall Street.
Viacom, which owns media properties such as MTV and Nickelodeon cable networks, as well as Paramount, attributes the increase in profitability to its Filmed Entertainment segment as well as to cost containment measures throughout the company.
“Viacom’s results over the past year have been extraordinary and illustrate the value of a well planned strategy and execution,” said Viacom Executive Chairman Sumner M. Redstone. “Despite the economic challenges, we performed extremely well across our media networks and motion picture operations. As a result of the quality of our operations and wealth of creative talent throughout the company, we are well positioned for success not only today but long into the future.”
“Paramount Pictures significantly boosted its profitability in 2009 as the studio’s strategy of producing a smaller slate of films, anchored by franchises, began to pick up momentum,” said Viacom President and CEO Philippe Dauman. “We also were pleased to see renewed consumer demand for our new DVD and Blu-ray releases in the fourth quarter.”
Star Trek XI was part of the reason for the increase in profitability in the fourth quarter of 2009, as noted in the corporate report. “Worldwide home entertainment revenues of $1.15 billion represent a 12% increase over the prior year’s fourth quarter results and reflect the strong performance of the DVD and Blu-ray releases of Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen, Star Trek and G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra. Worldwide television license fees grew 27% to $445 million.”
For the full year, “…adjusted operating income grew 1% to $3.0 billion versus $2.98 billion in 2008, reflecting a significant increase in profitability in the Filmed Entertainment segment primarily fueled by the success of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Star Trek and Paranormal Activity as well as the benefit of restructuring and other cost-containment initiatives.’
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