NEW YORK (Reuters) - Viacom Inc. , parent of MTV and Comedy Central, posted a better-than-expected rise in profit on Friday driven by strong growth in cable advertising and licensing of TV shows to online sites like Netflix Inc and Hulu.
Fiscal third-quarter profit rose to $574 million, or 97 cents a share, from 432 million, or 71 cents a share a year ago.
Excluding special items, its profit was 99 cents per share, outpacing analysts average forecast of 86 cents per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Revenue in the quarter rose 15 percent to $3.77 billion ahead of analysts forecasts of $3.52 billion.
(Reporting by Yinka Adegoke, writing by Franklin Paul; Editing by Derek Caney)