Philippe Dauman

Honey Boo Boo should be getting a nice box of chocolates in the mail. David Zaslav, the chief executive of cable programming giant Discovery Communications, had a 2012 compensation package worth $49.9 million, according to the company's proxy statement. Besides Discovery Channel, Discovery Communications also owns TLC, home to the reality show "Here Comes Honey Boo Boo. " Other Discovery Channels include Animal Planet and Discovery ID. It also is partners with Oprah Winfrey on the OWN Network and with Hasbro on the Hub, a cable channel aimed at kids and families.  ON LOCATION: Where the cameras roll While a pay package worth $49.9 million is nothing to sneeze at, it is actually a reduction from 2011, when Zaslav's compensation was valued at $52.4 million.

Viacom Inc. reported a 16% gain in fourth-quarter earnings Thursday and said its advertising business hadn't been hurt by the slowdown in the economy. Philippe P. Dauman, Viacom's chief executive, told analysts that the company also benefited from a shift of ad dollars to cable television from broadcast during the just-concluded writers strike. Viacom earned $559.5 million, or 86 cents a share, in the quarter, up from $480.8 million, or 69 cents, in the same period a year earlier.

Google Inc. Chief Executive Eric Schmidt says he plans to aggressively fight a $1-billion lawsuit from entertainment company Viacom Inc., saying the technology company has been obeying the law with its YouTube video-sharing service. Viacom has claimed that YouTube is a massive center of copyright infringement because it allows users to upload video clips from Viacom properties such as Comedy Central and Nickelodeon.

Media conglomerate Viacom Inc. said its first-quarter profit fell 34%, hurt by falling ad and entertainment revenue. But there are signs things may be easing. Chief Executive Philippe Dauman during a conference call pointed to signs of an advertising turnaround, a crucial factor for the company's cable properties. "We are not seeing any further deterioration," he said. "Over the past few weeks we have seen the advertising market stabilize." The New York company, which is controlled by Sumner Redstone and includes the Paramount movie studio as well as cable networks MTV and Comedy Central, said it earned $177 million, or 29 cents a share, down from $270 million, or 42 cents, last year.

DirecTV subscribers may lose popular channels owned by Viacom Inc., including MTV, Comedy Central and Nickelodeon, as early as Wednesday if the two companies are unable to come to terms on a new distribution deal. Viacom said on its website that its current contract with DirecTV expires at midnight Tuesday and no agreement is near. "Despite our best efforts, DirecTV has rejected all of our proposals to renew our agreement," Viacom said, adding that the latest offer from the satellite broadcaster is for a lower rate than Viacom said it gets from any other distributor in the industry.

CBS Corp.'s not-so-undercover boss, Leslie Moonves, was awarded a total compensation package of $43.2 million for 2009, according to the company's regulatory filings Friday. The amount includes $3.5 million in base salary plus a $15-million bonus. The 60-year-old chief executive also received stock worth $7.6 million and stock options presently worth about $14.3 million. CBS also gave Moonves nearly $2.4 million to reimburse him for a portion of the New York state and local taxes that he paid.

Walt Disney Co. Chief Executive Bob Iger received nearly $31.4 million in total compensation last year, a 13.6% increase from 2010, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The board's compensation committee laid out the case for Iger's package, noting that 90% is tied to Disney's performance. It said the Burbank entertainment giant achieved record net income, revenue and earnings per share in fiscal 2011, and initiated a number of projects that would contribute to the company's' future growth — including expanding attractions at Disney theme parks in California, Florida and Hong Kong, and the joint venture to create a new park in Shanghai.

Wall Street analysts are nervous about Viacom Inc.'s short-term growth amid a ratings slump at the company's key television networks. Ratings are down about 30% this season at MTV, the company's signature cable channel. The youth-skewing network also is losing its juggernaut franchise "Jersey Shore," which could make matters worse.  And for the last year, Viacom's other major cash cow, Nickelodeon, has been struggling to stop the flight of young viewers. TV networks provide about 90% of the Viacom's profits.  On Thursday, Wells Fargo media analyst Marci Ryvicker was blunt during a conference call with analysts to discuss the company's fiscal fourth quarter.

Media company Viacom Inc. disappointed Wall Street with lower revenue in its fiscal first quarter, particularly at its Hollywood film studio, Paramount Pictures, which bombed at the box office. In past quarters, Paramount could count on being propped up by the company's cash cow MTV and Nickelodeon television networks. But those networks are struggling to reverse ratings slides, exposing Paramount's thin film slate and a bare home video cupboard that contained only one release. For the quarter ended Dec. 31, Paramount's film revenue plummeted 37% to $975 million.

Billionaire Sumner Redstone last year got a 39% boost in compensation — to $21 million — for his role as executive chairman of Viacom Inc. But Viacom Chief Executive Philippe Dauman took home considerably less than he did in the company's previous fiscal year, when compensation totaling $84.5 million made him the highest-paid executive in corporate America. In 2011, Dauman got $43 million in salary, stock and other benefits, according to the company's proxy filed Friday with the Securities and Exchange Commission.