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Viacom Inc. says its fourth-quarter earnings rose 16% on gains in its cable channels and movies.

New York-based Viacom, which also owns the Paramount movie studio, earned $559.5 million or 86 cents per share in the last three months of 2007, the company reported Thursday.

That was up from $480.8 million or 69 cents per share in the same period a year ago.

Revenue rose 19% to $4.25 billion, from $3.57 billion.

Excluding discontinued operations, Viacom’s (VIA) earnings came in at 83 cents per share, in line with the estimates of analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial. 

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