Viacom’s chief executive said today that the company expects growth in ad sales to be stronger in early 2012, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Said Philippe Dauman: "As we look to the next quarter, we expect to see stronger ad-sales growth. The macro headlines are such that there appears to be better tone in the market going forward.”

Dauman also addressed ratings declines at Nickelodeon, which have been a focus for the company and for Nielsen, as reported recently. He said the declines “would have a smaller impact in 2012 compared to the current quarter, because Nickelodeon typically represents a bigger percentage of Viacom’s overall ad revenue during the holiday season,” the story reports.

Said Dauman: "It would have been a lot better had it happened any other quarter than the fourth calendar quarter. As we look into the next quarter and beyond — the rest of the year — Nickelodeon ad sales represent a much smaller percentage of our overall ad sales.”