Viacom Results Reflect Lower Rock Band Revenues

Media giant Viacom, owner of MTV Games and Rock Band, said that its ancillary revenues dropped for the most recent quarter due to lower sales of the music game. For the quarter ended March 31, Viacom said that worldwide revenues in its "ancillary" segment were $195 million, a decrease of 7 percent year-on-year, while domestically they were down 22 percent. The decline in sales in the segment was "principally driven by lower Rock Band sales reflecting the mix of Rock Band product offerings," Viacom said, while "lower Rock Band costs" helped reduce operating expenses by $27 million. The company had a tough comparison to the same quarter a year ago, when MTV Games was rolling out Harmonix's Rock Band 2. The company, which released The Beatles: Rock Band in September last year, plans on releasing Rock Band 3 by holiday 2010. Viacom said that the decline in domestic ancillary revenues included lower home entertainment revenues. Across its entire business, Viacom reported quarterly sales of $2.79 billion, a 4 percent year-on-year decline. Profits were up 37 percent to $243 million. Viacom executive chairman Sumner Redstone said, "Viacom is off to an excellent start this year, delivering a strong performance, including outstanding bottom-line results." He added, "As the economy continues to strengthen, Viacom's operational and financial discipline and fervent focus on content should continue to produce increasingly significant benefits across all of our businesses."