MUMBAI: Viacom International Media Networks (VIMN), a division of Viacom and Vocento, a Spanish communications and multimedia group, has said that the new Paramount Channel has begun broadcasting on Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) in Spain from 30 March with the premiere of ?The Godfather?.

The channel presents Spanish audiences of all ages with movies from film library of Paramount Pictures, as well as a selection of titles from other American studios and the best representation of Spanish cinema.

The channel?s day-to-day programming brings together blockbusters, classics and some of the most award-winning
films in the history of cinema. Eleven movies will air each day, with the most popular hits in primetime and weekends dedicated to family cinema for all audiences.

In total, the channel will air more than 600 titles per year across nine different genres: action, family and children, comedy, award winners, crime and mystery, science fiction and fantasy, love and romance, horror and drama. Some of the most noteworthy titles to be broadcast soon will be film gems such as American Beauty, Breakfast at Tiffany?s, A.I Artificial Intelligence, Fatal Attraction and Elizabethtown.

VIMN president, CEO Bob Bakish said, "With the launch of Paramount Channel, we?re bringing together the powerful combination of Paramount Pictures? vast and iconic library of film content, and Viacom International Media Networks? strong expertise in building global TV brands. This is an important strategic step in deepening our presence in a key market, Spain, while expanding our portfolio of adult-targeted brands. We?re excited to create a must-see TV destination for movie lovers, which we hope will be the first of many to launch in the coming years."

A free-to-air, 24-hour channel, Paramount Channel is the fourth VIMN network airing in Spain (joining MTV, Paramount Comedy and Nickelodeon), reinforcing the company?s commitment of providing entertainment content for a wide range of Spanish audiences on both pay and free-to-air TV. The other channels are MTV, Nickelodeon and Paramount Comedy.

MUMBAI: US media conglomerate Viacom‘s channel VH1 is putting one of the most important human relationships under the microscope - the complex dynamics that develop between a mother and her young adult daughter. But these aren‘t your run-of-the-mill mini-van driving soccer moms. They‘re women who refuse to grow up and prefer to be their daughters‘ best friends. They love to party, play and, in their own ways, even parent a little. Can their relationships survive intact? Not really! Will their diverse backgrounds and parenting styles clash? 

VH1 will premiere the show Mama Drama on 1 January 2012. This 10 episode docu-series will uncover five sets of over-the-top, mothers and their adult daughters that leave you wondering, who is the "grown-up" and who is the child? They‘ll put their relationships on the line as they figure out if being BFFs really is the best for everyone or just a recipe for total disaster. Forced to live together, they will have no choice but to look in the mirror. Do they wish they had more traditional relationships? Or is this the only way to live? There will be no host to guide them, no therapist to heal them, just five sets of wildly different women trying to work out their issues under the same roof. Whether they‘re bonding, fighting or just partying, they‘re bound to learn something... whether they like it or not.

This docu-style social experiment will bring these women together with others like them for the first time, forcing them to take a look at their own lives. They represent the ‘15/50‘ mentality: they have the body of a grown woman but want to act as if they are fifteen. The trend is sweeping the US the broadcaster says and is perfectly demonstrated on ‘Mama Drama‘. These moms are copying their daughters‘ fashion and night life decisions in order to hang onto their youth and crazy ways. The women will be shocked to see the trends they are setting and ultimately ask themselves: can they learn from their wild-child ways or will they always be the teen queens they once were? Will it make them want to change the way they treat each other and can they learn to be age-appropriate and start parenting instead of partying? Living under a microscope, will lead them to defend their choices or to apologize for them. The time for a change is now, but this show can only guarantee one result: non-stop, wall to wall, mama drama. 

MUMBAI: US media conglomerate Viacom‘s subsidiary Showtime has ordered two more seasons of its drama series ‘Dexter‘, starring Michael C Hall.

The announcement was made by Showtime Networks president of entertainment David Nevins. On the heels of Hall and Showtime closing a new, two season deal for Hall to return to the series, production will begin on season seven in 2012 in Los Angeles. Seasons seven and eight will consist of 12 episodes each.

Nevins said, "Dexter‘s enormous success is a real tribute to the great achievements of its cast, producers, and the powerhouse performance of Michael C Hall. The series is bigger than it‘s ever been in its sixth season, both in terms of audience and its impact on the cultural landscape. Together with Michael, the creative team on the show has a very clear sense of where they intend to take the show over the next two seasons and, as a huge fan, I‘m excited to watch the story of Dexter Morgan play out."

Hall said, "On behalf of the entire ‘Dexter‘ family, we relish the invitation to delve ever deeper into Dexter‘s world."

Dexter stars Hall, who plays a complicated and conflicted blood-spatter expert for the Miami police department, who moonlights as a serial killer.

MUMBAI: US media conglomerate Viacom has announced that fourth quarter revenues increased by 22 per cent to $4.05 billion.

Adjusted Operating Income grew by 27 per cent o $1.06 billion, reflecting a significant increase in profitability in the film segment and double-digit growth in the media networks segment. Fourth quarter adjusted net earnings increased by 33 per cent to $614 million.

Consolidated revenues for the year increased by 12 per cent to $14.91 billion, with significant contributions from both media networks and film. Full-year adjusted operating income grew by 13 per cent to $3.85 billion, reflecting higher ad and affiliate revenues in Media Networks.

Full-year adjusted net earnings from continuing operations attributable to Viacom rose 22 per cent to $2.25 billion and full-year adjusted diluted earnings per share from continuing operations increased 25 per cent to $3.78. The company also announced an expansion of stock repurchase programme to $10 billion from $4 billion.

Viacom executive chairman Sumner M. Redstone said, "Viacom‘s performance in fiscal 2011 once again illustrates the value of our focused strategy and strong leadership. Viacom‘s powerful brands are enhanced by operational and financial discipline, which continues to drive our results and build value for shareholders."

Viacom president, CEO Philippe Dauman said, "2011 was an outstanding year, highlighted by significant creative milestones, strong topline growth and expanded profitability across every division of Viacom. Creatively we are at the top of our game, powered by unique audience insights and connections, coupled with consistent investment in innovative programming at our marquee media networks, including MTV, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, and BET. Paramount Pictures is benefiting from a disciplined franchise-centric approach that has produced an unprecedented number of hits in the domestic and international box office.

In terms of quarterly revenues media networks contributed $2.29 billion in revenues, an eight per cent gain over the same period last year, driven principally by growth in ad and affiliate revenues. Both worldwide and domestic ad revenues rose by seven per cent in the quarter. Worldwide affiliate revenues increased 11 per cent to $883 million, driven largely by rate increases.

Film revenues grew 46 per cent to $1.79 billion, principally due to the strong performance of ?Transformers: Dark of the Moon? in theatrical and home entertainment markets, as well as higher ancillary revenues, due in part to availability of titles for digital distribution.

For the year media networks delivered $814 million of the increase, reflecting a 10 per cent gain in ad revenues to $5 billion and a 12 per cent gain in affiliate fees to $3.52 billion, which more than offset a two per cent decline in ancillary revenues. Domestic advertising revenues rose 10 per cent. Domestic affiliate revenues increased 12 per cent, largely as a result of rate increases, as well as the availability of programming for digital distribution arrangements.

Film revenues increased 15 per cent to $5.92 billion, driven by sharply higher theatrical and ancillary revenues, as well as increased television license fees, which were partially offset by lower home entertainment revenues. The size and strength of the film slate were the primary drivers of a 58 per cent increase in theatrical revenues, while ancillary revenues rose by 48 per cent, principally reflecting the sale of distribution rights and digital revenues.

Quarterly adjusted operating income rise was driven by a 10 per cent increase in the media networks segment and a triple-digit gain in the film segment. Higher results in the media networks stemmed primarily from increases in domestic advertising and affiliate revenue, partially offset by higher programming investments. Film profits were driven by the strong performance of ‘Transformers: Dark of the Moon‘.

Full-year adjusted operating income increase was driven by higher adjusted operating income of $467 million in media networks, principally reflecting increased revenues, partially offset by higher expenses. Film adjusted operating income was substantially flat. Adjusted full-year 2011 results exclude the impact of the current year restructuring charges, while the adjusted results for prior year exclude the impact of asset impairment.

Quarterly adjusted net earnings‘ increase reflects higher adjusted operating income and a lower effective tax rate. Full-year adjusted net earnings from continuing operations attributable to Viacom increased 22 per cent to $2.25 billion in 2011, primarily due to the increase in tax-effected adjusted operating income and higher equity income principally from Epix, which generated income this year, compared with a loss in 2010. Full-year 2011 adjusted diluted earnings per share from continuing operations increased $0.76 to $3.78.

Stock Repurchase Programme: For the quarter ended 30 September, 2011 Viacom repurchased 19.7 million shares under its stock repurchase programme for an aggregate purchase price of $900 million. During the year ended 30 September, 2011 Viacom repurchased 55.7 million shares for an aggregate price of $2.5 billion. As of November 9, 2011, Viacom had $7.22 billion remaining in its $10 billion stock repurchase programme.

MUMBAI: US media conglomerate Viacom has reported double-digit gains for the quarter ended 30 June 2011.

Consolidated revenues in the quarter grew by 15 per cent to $3.77 billion, primarily driven by growth in affiliate, dvertising and television license revenues.
 
Adjusted operating income increased by 22 per cent to $995 million, fueled by Media Networks profit growth. Adjusted net earnings from continuing operations attributable to Viacom were up 35 per cent to $583 million with adjusted diluted EPS from continuing operations of $0.99, which represents a 39 per cent increase over the prior year‘s results of $0.71 per share.

Viacom president, CEO Philippe Dauman said, "The breadth of hit programming found across Viacom‘s media network portfolio continues to expand with top-rated shows and tentpole events on MTV, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, BET and TV Land, as well as many of our international networks, all of which contributed to strong advertising growth and a
robust advertising upfront performance. We are strengthening our global entertainment brands and expanding our reach through new international and digital distribution and bringing our audiences the content they want on new platforms."

Paramount Pictures is the first studio ever to deliver a record six consecutive $100 million-plus domestic box office movies and it was the first studio to cross the $1 billion domestic box office threshold for the fifth year in a row.

Film revenues grew by 13 per cent to $1.41 billion due principally to higher television license fees and home entertainment revenues. The company‘s worldwide television license revenues were up by 36 per cent in the quarter to $416 million, driven by the number and mix of available titles.

Home entertainment revenues increased 33 per cent to $331
million, reflecting one additional release as compared with the prior year‘s quarter as well as the strength of the current year releases. Ancillary revenues also grew, up 57 per cent to $72 million.

These gains were partially offset by lower theatrical revenues, which were down nine per cent to $588 million, principally reflecting the timing of film releases.

"The prior year period benefited from strong carryover revenues from DreamWorks Animation‘s ‘How to Train Your
Dragon‘ whereas ‘Transformers: Dark of the Moon‘ was released in the final week of the fiscal 2011 third quarter, which will result in the majority of the film‘s theatrical revenues occurring in the fiscal fourth quarter," the company said.