Viacom Says It Won’t Sell Infinity Radio

Viacom Inc. has no plans to sell its Infinity radio unit because it contributes about $1 billion in operating profit annually to the third-biggest U.S. media company, Viacom Co-President Leslie Moonves said.

The company may seek to sell one or two lagging stations out of Infinity’s 183 stations, Moonves said in an interview at CBS’ affiliate-station conference in Las Vegas. Moonves, 54, was promoted to co-president of New York-based Viacom on Tuesday, after President Mel Karmazin resigned. Moonves had been running Viacom’s CBS and UPN television networks.

Infinity was the only Viacom division last year whose sales declined as radio advertising lagged behind TV ad sales. Viacom’s radio sales slipped 1% to $2.1 billion last year. The unit’s operating income fell 3% to $975 million. Increasing Infinity’s profit is a top goal, Moonves said.