Reporting on its third-quarter earnings yesterday, Viacom called out MTV Games and Harmonix's Rock Band franchise as a key revenue driver during the July-September period. As noted yesterday, The Beatles: Rock Band enjoyed a "strong" start and helped offset shrinking revenue from other segments of Viacom's Media Networks division, to which the BET, Comedy Central, and Nickelodeon channels, as well as other properties, belong.

　　"Now give me money (that's what I want)" However, despite bolstering sales, the Rock Band franchise continued to weigh on the media conglomerate's bottom line. Speaking to investors and analysts following the earnings report, Viacom president and CEO Philippe Dauman said that the Rock Band franchise did not turn a profit during the period.

　　"In terms of Rock Band, Rock Band was a negative contributor to margins in the third quarter," he said. "We expect it to break even or be slightly profitable in the fourth quarter from a margin point of view.''

　　Dauman went on to say that Viacom will heavily push The Beatles: Rock Band during the holiday season, a period that he said will determine whether the product was a success.

　　"It really depends on how many units we sell in the holiday season," he continued. "That is what we are building the business for. The economy has made it tough, but we are out there, and we think we are being very competitive in the space, and it really depends literally on the next three to six weeks."

　　Interestingly, the Viacom executive also noted that the Media Networks division stands to gain in the event of a strong showing from Activision's Guitar Hero franchise, the first several installments of which were developed by Harmonix. "We also generate royalty fees through the Harmonix relationship with Activision," he said. "So to some extent, the performance of that business will depend on the performance of our competitor."

　　MTV Games did not return a request for comment as of press time.

　　You need a javascript enabled browser to watch videos.

　　Click To Unmute

　　The Beatles: Rock Band Video Review

　　Tears Of The Kingdom Is A Technological Marvel

　　Resident Evil 4 Is A Perfect RemakeHow Alan Wake II Made Me Face My Fear of Horror GamesGameSpot's Top 10 Games of 2023Thompson: The Pop Culture Icon’s Strange Legacy - LoadoutFirearms Expert’s FAVORITE Weapons Of 2023How Baldur's Gate 3 Stole A Zelda Expert's HeartState Of Gaming Handhelds In 2023Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth - Official Ichiban Kasuga Character Spotlight TrailerHow Lies of P Cracked the Souls GenreLike a Dragon: Infinite Wealth - Official Eric Tomizawa Character Spotlight TrailerLike a Dragon: Infinite Wealth - Official Kazuma Kiryu Character Spotlight Trailer

　　Share

　　LinkEmbed

　　Size:640 × 360480 × 270

　　Start at: End at: Autoplay Loop

　　Want us to remember this setting for all your devices?

　　Sign up or Sign in now!

　　Please use a html5 video capable browser to watch videos.

　　This video has an invalid file format.

　　00:00:00

　　HTML5

　　Auto HD High Low

　　Report a problem

　　Sorry, but you can't access this content!

Please enter your date of birth to view this video

　　By clicking 'enter', you agree to GameSpot's

　　Terms of Use and Privacy Policy

　　enter