PARAMOUNT TICKET SALES UP, DVD SALES WAY DOWN

Paramount had what can only be described as a sensational fourth quarter at the box office, with such hits as True Grit, Little Fockers, Megamind, and The Fighter boosting the studio’s revenue fourfold over the same period a year ago to $416 million. But it all amounted to little as revenue from DVD and Blu-ray Disc sales plummeted 44 percent in the quarter. The drop also canceled out improved earnings at other units of the Viacom conglomerate, whose cable networks — which include MTV, Nickelodeon, BET, Comedy Central, CMT, and Spike TV — saw a 5.6-percent growth in revenue. Viacom’s overall net income fell 12 percent to $610 million from $694 million a year ago. Meanwhile, Viacom indicated that it will provide additional content from its cable networks to the online video company Hulu, but much of it will not be available until 21 days after the programs air. “Windowing has always been very important in our industry, and we will be experimenting with those,” Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman told analysts during a conference call on Thursday.