'MILLIONAIRE,'THEME PARKS BUOY DISNEY LOSSES BY INTERNET DIVISION DIMINISH ROBUST EARNINGS.

Byline: Jesse Hiestand Staff Writer

BURBANK - Despite a slide in ratings, ABC's ``Millionaire'' continues to drive the bottom line for the network's parent The Walt Disney Co., whose fourth-quarter earnings due today will be tempered by losses in its Internet division.

Advertising generated by the popular ``Who Wants to be a Millionaire'' and strong theme park revenue are among reasons the Burbank-based media giant should report profit of 7 cents a share, based on a consensus of analysts surveyed by First Call/Thompson Corp.

While earnings per share was 8 cents in the same period a year ago, analysts say Disney would report a profit of 18 cents per share, up from 10 cents last year, if not for losses from Walt Disney Internet Group, a North Hollywood-based outfit that will also announce earnings today.

``The media networks with ABC are really carrying the day along with solid growth at theme parks,'' said First Union Securities Inc. analyst Scott Davis. ``Those are the two cornerstones.''

Operating income at Disney's media networks is expected to be up 25 percent, to $457 million, while theme parks' operating income should rise 10 percent, to $361 million, Davis said.

Two struggling areas, studios and consumer products, are showing signs of turnaround.

Disney's film studios generated operating profit of about $33 million, up from a loss of $84 million in the same quarter last year, on a strong box office from ``Scary Movie'' and home-video releases of ``Buzz Lightyear of Star Command,'' ``Little Mermaid 2'' and ``The Tigger Movie,'' Davis said.

Operating income in consumer products was expected to be essentially flat because write-offs related to store closings offset a 25 percent increase in operating income to $100 million, according to analyst Jessica Reif-Cohen of Merrill Lynch.

``New management, under the direction of Andy Mooney, is intent on improving the quality of merchandise, reducing the number of licensees and reinvigorating the 'look and feel' of the Disney Stores,'' Reif-Cohen said.

In all, Disney is expected to report robust operating income for the quarter, with growth of nearly 50 percent to $835 million, from $569 million last year, Reif-Cohen said.

That comes on revenue growth of 13 percent to $6.4 billion, from $5.7 billion last year, in large part because of the revenue growth in the media networks division, Reif-Cohen said.

While ratings are down from last year, ``Millionaire'' is still big factor for earnings at the ABC network, analysts said.

``The overall ratings across the board have been down so there is some concern,'' said Christopher Dixon of PaineWebber. ``What's going on there is what's going on throughout advertising.