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Tag: Viacom’s

  • Viacom’s Q2 revenues up 10 % to $5.9 billion

    MUMBAI: US media conglomerate Viacom which owns MTV, Nickelodeon and Paramount has reported results for the second quarter ended 30 June 2005.
     

    Revenues have increased by 10 per cent to $5.9 billion from $5.4 billion for the same quarter last year.
     
     

    Viacom chairman and CEO Sumner M. Redstone also used the occasion to announce that once the media giant’s spin-off into two companies was complete (expected in the first quarter of 2006), he would be relinquishing the CEO’s post. Viacom co-COOs and co-presidents Tom Freston and Leslie Moonves would become CEOs of Viacom, Inc. and CBS Corporation respectively.

    Viacom’s was led by growth in nearly every business segment and including gains of 14 per cent in cable networks and 24 per cent in entertainment as well as increases in outdoor and radio. Viacom’s revenues from advertising climbed six per cent. Operating income increased by four per cent to $1.4 billion, paced by increases of 14 per cent in Cable Networks, five per cent in outdoor and two per cent in radio. These gains more than offset declines at entertainment, principally due to the timing and related advertising costs of theatrical releases, and at Television.

    Net earnings from continuing operations in the second quarter of 2005 rose by six per cent to $762 million from $717 million. Viacom’s free cash flow was $889 million compared with $990 million for the same prior-year period, as higher earnings from continuing operations were more than offset by higher cash taxes and increases in capital expenditures.

    For the six months ended 30 June 2005, revenues increased by eight per cent to $11.4 billion, with growth in nearly every segment. Operating income was up by five per cent to $2.6 billion, paced by Cable Networks and Outdoor. Operating income declines in the second quarter in entertainment and television, were due primarily to the timing of print and advertising costs associated with the movie War of the Worlds, which will record the bulk of its theatrical revenues in the third quarter and has already achieved worldwide box office grosses of $532 million, and lower television revenues, which did not match prior year licensing of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Frasier and
    Hollywood Squares.

  • Hollander is Viacom’s radio station Infinity’s COO

    MUMBAI: Media conglomerate Viacom has announced that Joel Hollander will be the president and COO of its radio network Infinity Broadcasting. The announcement was made by Infinity Broadcasting chairman and CEO John Sykes.

    Hollander who recently served as Westwood One president and CEO will now oversee day-to-day operations of Infinity’s 183 radio stations across the US. He will report to Sykes and begin his new role from 16 June 2005.

    Sykes said, “Joel is one of the most gifted executives working in radio today and has built Westwood One into an exceptionally successful radio operation. Because of Infinity’s relationship with Westwood One, Joel has become one of my closest colleagues in the industry and was my only choice for this important position. I am very pleased to welcome Joel back to Infinity, and I am confident that his presence will make an immediate impact on our business.”

    Hollander said, “Infinity Broadcasting is the foremost radio group in the industry with an unrivalled portfolio of stations. I look forward to building our business and growing our local operations and competitive positions in the markets and communities that we serve.”

    Infinity Broadcasting claims to be one of the largest major-market radio operators in the US. Its stations cover the news, modern rock, oldies, country, FM talk, classic rock and urban formats. Infinity owns 185 radio stations, the majority of which are in the nation’s top 50 markets and reach more than 76 million listeners a week and is also home to 29 of the country’s leading sports franchises amongst the NFL, MLB, NBA and NHL.

  • Viacom’s Infinity fined for indecent content

    WASHINGTON DC: Media conglomerate Viacom’s radio unit Infinity Broadcasting has drawn the ire of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
    The media watchdog has fined the company $357,500 for airing in August last year, a segment on the Opie and Anthony Show featuring a Northern Virginia couple having sex in a Roman Catholic church.
    FCC issued a release stating that this was the highest amount permitted by the Communications Act on the facts of this case. The Commission took the decision because of the egregious nature of the material, the involvement of many Infinity employees and managers in planning the marketing event, and Infinity’s recent history of the airing of indecent or apparently indecent broadcasts.
    FCC based its action on more than 500 complaints regarding Infinity’s 15 August 2002, broadcast of an Infinity-hosted contest Sex for Sam. This involved participants having sex in “risky locations” throughout New York City, including St Patrick’s Cathedral, a zoo, Rockefeller Center and a toy store.
    However FCC Commissioner Michael J Copps felt that the fine imposed was inadequate. He said, “I dissent from the Commission’s decisions to provide no more than a slap on the wrist to Infinity rather than take serious action to address indecency on our airwaves. Today, the majority proposes a $27,500 fine for each incident of airing what the majority agrees appears to be indecent programming at a time when children likely composed a significant portion of the audience.”
    Copps continued, “In the case of Infinity/Viacom, 13 stations ran the Opie and Anthony Show which contained a broadcast of sexual activity at St Patrick’s Cathedral in New York as part of an on-air stunt. In this stunt Sex for Sam, couples received points for having sex in public places. In addition to St Patrick’s Cathedral, the broadcast described sexual activity at restaurants, at the Disney Store and at FAO Schwartz.”
    Cops said he defied anyone to read the transcript and argue that the broadcast does not violate the statutory prohibition against airing indecent material. “And I defy anyone to argue that a $27,500 fine to each of the stations owned by a multi-billion dollar conglomerate is adequate to address this clear violation of federal law. Infinity/Viacom could pay this entire fine by tacking just one more commercial onto one of its prime-time TV shows and probably pocket a profit to boot. Some punishment!” he said.
    The commissioner went on to point out that this was not the first action against a station owned by Infinity. Infinity stations paid $1.7 million in 1995 to settle a series of indecency cases. As part of that settlement, Infinity had agreed to take steps to prevent further broadcast of indecent material. More complaints involving other Infinity broadcasts followed.
    He explained, “Last April, this Commission issued another tepid proposed fine against another station owned by this same company – WKRK-FM in Detroit – which had aired some of the most vulgar and disgusting indecency that I have had the misfortune to examine. In that decision, the majority warned that repeated serious violations by Infinity could result in the revocation of station licenses. The majority repeats that same warning again in this decision.”
    The release adds that two months before the airing of the Sex for Sam episode the FCC had cited the same show for three separate apparent violations of the indecency statutes. These shows aired between November 2000 and January 2001.
    In one instance, a graphic song showcasing a father having oral sex with his young daughter was broadcast. In the second instance, the Opie and Anthony Show aired another graphic song by a man seeking girls between the ages of two and three for sex. In the third instance, the show provided detailed and vulgar instructions to a teenager.
    The commissioner added, “If this situation does not meet the majority’s test for repeated violators, I fail to understand what would. The message to licensees is clear. Even egregious repeated violations will not result in revocation of a license. Rather, they will result only in a financial penalty that doesn’t even rise to a serious cost of doing business. I wonder when this Commission will finally take a firm stand against the “race to the bottom” on our airwaves.”