Viacom, the owner of MTV, Comedy Central, Nickelodeon and movie studio Paramount, reported a steeper-than-expected drop in quarterly revenue.
The company's results were hurt by lower advertising sales in the US and few hit movie releases in the period.
Domestic advertising revenue fell 4%, as price increases were more than offset by a decline in traditional ratings at some of Viacom's networks.
Three analysts told Reuters they had forecast domestic ad revenue to fall 5% in the quarter ended December 31.
But the drop was an improvement from the September quarter's 7% fall.
Viacom has struggled with lower ratings for its cable networks in recent years as younger viewers migrate to online and mobile video.
The company's board last week named chief executive Philippe Dauman as executive chairman, replacing 92-year-old majority owner Sumner Redstone and piling pressure on Dauman to improve Viacom's performance.
Last week, Mario Gabelli, the second-largest owner of voting shares in Viacom after the Redstone family, said that Dauman has six to nine months to turn the company around.
The company today announced a deal with video messaging app provider Snapchat that gave Viacom exclusive rights to sell advertising around Snapchat's content.
Revenue in Viacom's filmed entertainment division, which includes Paramount, fell 15% to $612m, hurt by fewer big film releases.
The year-earlier quarter included the strong performance of "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles".
Net income attributable to Viacom fell to $449m, or $1.13 per share, in the fiscal first quarter from $500m, or $1.20 per share, a year earlier.
Total revenue declined 5.7% to $3.15 billion. Excluding items, Viacom earned $1.18 per share.
Analysts on average had expected a profit of $1.18 per share and revenue of $3.26 billion, according to Thomson Reuters.
