VIACOM IS HOTTER THAN JANET JACKSON’S SUNBURST NIPPLE MEDALLION

Sumner Redstone and Mel Karmazin, come on down.

The Viacom duo noted the "price was right," as they touted their dynamic first-quarter numbers.

Catapulted by TV nets including CBS, UPN, MTV and Comedy Central, Viacom’s profits soared by 60% to $710.5 million, or 41 cents a share, compared with $443.1 million, or 25 cents, in the year-ago period.

Sales rose 12% to $6.77 billion.

Viacom's gains bode well for the media business overall since, with the election and the Olympics coming up later this year, advertisers are expected to flock to TV, radio and cable.

But analysts were slightly peeved that Redstone and Karmazin failed to raise their projections yesterday for the full year.

For now, the Viacom bosses are sticking to their earlier predictions of 5% to 7% revenue growth and a 12% to 14% profit jump because the media conglom’s radio and billboard businesses are still rocky.

Viacom's shares barely budged yesterday, closing at $41.02, up 13 cents.

At the company’s broadcast TV unit, sales surged 18% to $2.27 billion, led by advertising prices for the Janet Jackson-enflamed Super Bowl and the NCAA college basketball tournament.

Another winner was Viacom's sizzling cable networks division, led by MTV, where profits surged 24%. The company’s entertainment division, which includes movie studio Paramount, also was strong, thanks to hot DVD sales of titles like School of Rock.

Even Viacom's struggling radio division showed some signs of a comeback, posting a 3% rise in sales, despite continued heat from the FCC over company breadwinner Howard Stern.

Not all was hunky-dory, though. Profits fell at both Viacom’s billboard business and at Blockbuster. Yesterday, Karmazin reiterated plans to spin off the struggling video chain.