Viacom Denies That The Video On Demand Website 'Netflix' Is Affecting Nickelodeon USA's Ratings

From C21Media:

Viacom targets Spain, plays down Netflix

Viacom will debut its upcoming Paramount channel in Spain and has denied video site Netflix is affecting ratings at its network Nickelodeon.

Viacom president and CEO Philippe Dauman said the first Paramount television channel, which will consist entirely of Paramount movies, in Spain in coming months.

C21 revealed Viacom global channels arm Viacom International Media Networks was lining up a Paramount-branded channel in October last year.

Dauman also played down analysts’ suggestions that Nickelodeon content streamed on Netflix was the explanation for Nickelodeon’s surprising recent ratings decline, which began in September last year.

The US online video rental service launched a family-friendly version of the service in August.

“We don’t think that the availability of the limited amount of Nick library content on Netflix has had a significant impact. It certainly does not account for the ratings drop that we saw,” he said.

He again attributed the dips to problems with ratings firm Nielsen’s analytics systems, and said rival networks had also launched “a lot of new shows.”

Dauman was speaking during an investor call for US media giant Viacom’s first-quarter results, which showed its networks arm had held up well, as reported yesterday.

But overall the company recorded a 65% drop in net earnings due to one-off costs relating to Rock Star video gaming company Harmonix and weak ad sales.

Jesse Whittock
03-02-2012
©C21Media