Viacom said on Thursday that fiscal third quarter profits fell about 12 percent as earnings at its Paramount Pictures studio plummeted more than 77 percent on lower DVD sales.
Net income for the October-December quarter was $610 million, or $1.00 a share, down from $694 million, or $1.14, last year. Revenue fell 5 percent to $3.83 billion.
At Paramount, the releases of “How to Train Your Dragon” and “Shrek” could not “Transformers,” “Star Trek” and “GI Joe” from the same period last year.
Even Snooki couldn't offset Paramount's slide. Profits increased 7 percent at Viacom's cable networks — including Comedy Central and MTV, a.k.a the “Jersey Shore” channel.
And advertising in the United States grew 10 percent during the quarter.
