10 from 2018: Top Moments in an Unforgettable Year at Viacom

Dec 18, 2018

Big hits, major moments, and the delivery on Viacom's promise to return to growth.

It was an incredible 2018 for Viacom. As our CEO and President Bob Bakish said recently in a note to employees, "We're stronger strategically, operationally, financially and culturally—and we're just getting started."

To celebrate the work of our employees and partners—and to recognize how important our fans and audiences around the world are to our ongoing transformation—we put together a list of the key moments from the past 12 months. It's not exhaustive, but it's illustrative of the creative and ambitious spirit we infuse across our content and within our culture.

Listed in no particular order, here are 10 moments that made 2018 unforgettable:

"The Mountain" is Back!

Driven by smash hits at the box office and in TV production, Paramount Pictures had a huge year. Mission: Impossible – Fallout earned a franchise-best $790 million, and A Quiet Place became the second-highest grossing U.S. horror film of the past decade. Up next: the U.S. release of Bumblebee on Dec. 21.

Viacom's Flagships Made Major Gains

Viacom had the top share of U.S. cable viewing in all its key demos, with six straight quarters of year-over-year flagship share gains, and particular strength at MTV, BET and Comedy Central. And internationally, our flagship brands continued to outperform the competition.

Viacom Digital Studios Burst Onto the Scene

The launch of VDS instantly transformed Viacom into a major player in the digital space, with original hits like Comedy Central’s Mini-Mocks, BET’s Excess, Nickelodeon’s The JoJo and BowBow Show Show and record views for coverage of the 2018 MTV VMAs. In Q4, Viacom ranked in the top 10 globally among all media and entertainment companies for video views on social — up from #24 a year ago.

Viacom Launches Digital Studios at First NewFront, Ramping Up Online & Mobile Content Pipeline

We Made Big Moves in Distribution

We expanded our consumer touchpoints and returned this critical line of business to growth. Our team secured carriage for over half of our U.S. subscriber base through expanded deals with Altice, Charter and others. And we also grew on emerging platforms including Sling, DirecTV Now and the new AT&T Watch mobile product, while launching apps like NOGGIN on more third-party platforms.

We Set Ad Sales Up For Growth in 2019

Coming off its strongest Upfront in five years, Viacom continues to deliver innovative offerings for its advertising partners through a suite of Advanced Marketing Solutions that reaches and engages consumers across linear, digital video, influencer and shopper marketing, branded content, experiential and through our ad-targeting Vantage platform. AMS revenue grew 25% to over $340 million over the previous year, and is expected to double in 2019.

We Broke Records at International

Viacom International Media Networks (VIMN) had a record year for revenue growth and profitability. From Telefe standing at #1 in ratings for 11 consecutive months to Channel 5 rebounding in Q4, we’re connecting in a big way all around the world. We also sold a 1% stake in joint venture Viacom18 in India to leverage the mobile broadband Jio platform and usher in a new wave of growth.

Viacom Forges Global Content Machine, Reinforcing Growing Premium Business

We Got Live

We opened the gates to even more events and experiences! Fans cheered loudly for the U.S premiere of SlimeFest, Clusterfest, our first-ever VidCon, BET Experience, Isle of MTV Malta, PAW Patrol Live!, MTV’s Wild ’N Out Tour, Broadway’s Mean Girls and more. Overall, we grew our global event attendance 48% to over 3.8 million.

Our Studio Production Business Took Off

We expanded our studio production business to capitalize on our iconic IP and make new hits for third parties around the globe. Paramount Television scored big with Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan for Amazon, Maniac and The Haunting of Hill House for Netflix and The Alienist for TNT. MTV Studios launched and sold three regional versions of MTV’s The Real World to Facebook Watch, while Nickelodeon inked two deals of its own. Awesomeness’ To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before became one of Netflix’s most-watched movies ever, and Viacom International Studios established itself as a top global producer of original Spanish-language content.

We Welcomed New Members to the Fam

The more the merrier! This year, we brought in VidCon, Awesomeness, SnowGlobe and WHOSAY to Viacom, super-charging our live events, solutions, digital content and production offerings, and helping us connect with Gen Z audiences and partners in new ways.

We Cultivated Our Culture

Whether celebrating inclusion through employee-led events, organizing speaker series and company town halls, or strengthening our learning and development programs, we worked hard to make sure our employees were equipped, engaged and inspired. We also showcased our shared mission, vision and values in our first-ever Viacom Brand Book. And we came together to do good, with over 5,000 participating in our 22nd annual Viacommunity Day of worldwide service — our biggest ever.