Viacom (Video & Audio Communications), the New York based media conglomerate said on Friday that its first-quarter profit rose 33 percent on sales of the video game Rock Band and higher ratings at its cable channels.

According to Viacom, the net income increased to $270 million, or 42 cents a share, from $203 million, or 29 cents, a year earlier. Sales gained 15 percent, to $3.12 billion, exceeding the $2.96 billion average of 18 analysts’ estimates, and excluding one-time items, profit of 44 cents a share topped their estimate of 41 cents.

The Company revealed that the Rock Band, a game involving players emulating rock ’n’ rollers with toy instruments, helped increase revenue by 16 percent at Viacom’s media networks business. MTV and Nickelodeon shows attracted more advertising with improved ratings, while box-office receipts for “Cloverfield” and “The Spiderwick Chronicles” helped narrow losses at the film unit.

Controlled by Sumner M. Redstone, Viacom reiterated its forecast of at least 10 percent annual growth through 2010 in earnings from continuing operations. The company has various worldwide interests in cable and satellite television networks (MTV Networks and BET), and movie production & distribution (the Paramount Pictures and DreamWorks movie studios).