COMPANY TOWN ANNEX

Viacom Earnings Off 61% in 1st Quarter: The parent of Paramount Pictures saw weaker profits from its entertainment and music businesses. Viacom Inc., which also owns the MTV and VH1 cable networks, Blockbuster Entertainment and Simon & Schuster publishing, said net income fell to $27.8 million, or 3 cents a share, from $71.2 million, or 15 cents, in the same period a year ago. Revenue rose to $2.80 billion from $2.70 billion. “During the first quarter we continued to strengthen our core operations and accelerated our expansion in overseas markets,” Sumner Redstone, the company’s chairman and chief executive, said in a statement. He cited an alliance with Germany’s KirchGroup that gives Viacom programming an important outlet in Europe.