VIACOM, ALL YE FAITHFUL

Viacom CEO Sumner Redstone may remember when boy bands marched in the Civil War, but he has them to thank for Viacom's better-than-expected first-quarter earnings. The entertainment company had a profit of $76 million, or 11 cents per diluted share to your broker, up 69% from the same quarter a year ago. The company reported revenue of $3.03 billion, with MTV's EBITDA jumped 29% to $222 million. carson daly',390,400);">carson daly',390,400);">Carson Daly was quoted as saying, "God bless teenage girls. Now when do I get to host ‘The Grind?'"

Viacom also owns Blockbuster Video, United Paramount Network (UPN) and has a 50% stake in Comedy Central. The conglom recently sold its stake in a chain of drive-thru Mexican restaurants, Viacomdios.

Things weren't so rosy at Viacom'spending acquisition, CBS Corp. The Eye reported big gains in revenue and operating profit, but it posted a loss because of $75 million in expenses in its Internet operations, including its IWon.com site, which is heavily promoted on the company's other media outlets. CBS' net loss for the first quarter was $38 million, or five cents a share. Guess there's no money in the Internet after all. Anybody want to buy some pre-IPO shares of hitsdailydouble.com?