Higher fees from cable operators and ticket sales from ``Iron Man'' countered a slowdown in advertising sales at the cable networks. Viacom shares have declined 23% since May 28, when chief executive Philippe Dauman cut in half his projection for ad sales growth at the US cable channels. ''People will be focused on the domestic network advertising growth rate,'' Anthony DiClemente, an analyst at Lehman Brothers, said in an interview before the report. ''The market understands at this point that second-quarter advertising trends are very difficult. The question remains the outlook.'' He recommends investors hold the shares and doesn't own any. Viacom, controlled by billionaire Sumner Redstone, fell 20 cents to $US29.66 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The Class B shares are down 32% this year. Cable Profit Excluding some costs, profit of 64 cents beat the 59-cent average estimate of 19 analysts.