YouTube clampdown pays off for Viacom as web traffic rises

LONDON - Viacom's decison to pull its content from YouTube has paid off after it reported a significant rise in its video web traffic for MTV, Comedy Central and Nickelodeon channels, possibly pointing the way for other content owners.

, which was previously broadcasting unauthorised clips from a number of Viacom-owned channels, was forced to remove over 100,000 video streams posted on its website after being accused by Viacom of failing to honour its commitment to stop file share violations.

Viacom is now reporting a substantial increase in video stream traffic to its MTV, Comedy Central and Nickelodeon websites, which it said vindicated its decision to force Google to remove clips from YouTube.

The Comedy Central is reporting a 90% increase in web traffic for last month, along with , which is up by more than 50%, and children's channel , which also rose by more than 30%.

Philippe Dauman, president and chief executive of Viacom, said: "Video streaming to our site has increased dramatically, an important validation of our strategy."

Meanwhile Viacom is reporting that its acquisition of Steven Spielberg-founded DreamWorks last year has helped it triple its year-on-year fourth quarter net profits to $480.8m. However, there was only 4% revenue growth in its cable TV network.

Viacom's success in gaining web traffic after its YouTube clampdown will be a source of optimism for 20th Century Fox, which issued a subpoena to Google in January to stop forthcoming episodes of CIA drama series '24' being streamed on YouTube.

Last month Viacom agreed a licensing deal with Joost, the video content company, to create a rival to YouTube, which will allow it to screen hundreds hours of its output, which includes 'South Park', 'The Daily Show' and 'Family Guy'.

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