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    Sumner Redstone Looks To Reunite CBS and Viacom

    By SHOOTUpdated:No Comments3182 Views
    In this Wednesday, May 4, 2016, file photo, trader Edward Curran, right, works near the post that handles CBS Corp. on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)

    By Mae Anderson, Technology Writer

    NEW YORK (AP) --

    Media mogul Sumner Redstone is pushing for a reunion between CBS and Viacom, more than a decade after they went their separate ways.

    National Amusements, which owns most of the voting shares of the two companies, sent a letter to CBS and Viacom board members Thursday saying that a tie-up would help the two companies to better compete as technology and the entertainment industry rapidly evolve.

    National Amusements is a movie theater operator run by Redstone, who orchestrated the split of CBS and Viacom in 2006.

    It was hoped that separation would allow the more profitable Viacom, which owns cable channels MTV, Nickelodeon and VH1, to sprint ahead of the storied but slow-growing CBS.

    Those tides have turned as more and more people cut the cable cord, choosing instead to stream TV shows or movies online at places like Netflix, Hulu, iTunes and Amazon.com.

    The success CBS has had streaming its shows, as well as its stand-alone, streaming Showtime channel, could be invaluable at Viacom, said Nomura analyst Anthony DiClemente.

    The streaming services could even fall under a single umbrella, DiClemente said.

    Viacom said it expects its board will form a special committee of independent directors to consider the letter from parent company National Amusements. CBS said it will evaluate what is in the best interest of its shareholders.

    The letter from National Amusements follows a long running legal battle over the fate of Redstone's media empire between longtime Viacom CEO Phillippe Dauman and Sumner Redstone's daughter, Shari. The fight ended with Shari Redstone as a Viacom director and president of National Amusements, and Dauman's departure.

    Viacom's interim CEO Tom Dooley will leave Nov. 15. Some have speculated that CBS CEO Les Moonves could to take charge if the two companies again become one, although Moonves has said in the past that he doesn't think a merger is a good idea.

    There would be tangible financial benefits to the tie up, however.

    The companies take from affiliates would increase, according to MoffettNathanson analyst Michael Nathanson. The companies right now deliver a combined 23 percent of national viewers, but are paid only 14 percent of affiliate fees.

    And Viacom's networks would fare better if they were CBS branded, Nathanson believes.

    Nathanson called a possible reunion "the next chapter in a story that in our minds should have never occurred to begin with."

    In a letter to the board, Redstone said National Amusements would not accept a buyout by a third party or any deal in which it would lose a controlling stake in CBS or Viacom.

    Category:News
    Tags:CBSNational AmusementsSumner RedstoneViacom



    Review: Director Ben Taylor’s “Joy”

    Thursday, November 21, 2024

    Toward the end of Netflix's "Joy," the muffled cry of a newborn baby prompts a man and woman in a hospital to embrace out of pure bliss. They aren't the parents, but they had as much to do with the birth as the mom and dad.

    This charming and winning movie charts the decade-long true story of how the world's first IVF baby was born in England in 1978 — a 5-pound, 12-ounce girl who paved the way for millions more. It's an upbeat, very English affair, mixing sober discussion of endometriosis with chocolate biscuits.

    The couple embracing that day were pioneering scientist Robert Edwards and Jean Purdy, a young nurse and embryologist. Together with surgeon Patrick Steptoe, the trio succeeded with in vitro fertilization, a method of treating infertility. Edwards would go on to win the Nobel Prize.

    "Joy" has been birthed at a time when science is under threat in America — even IVF — so it's downright inspiring to see plucky, smart scientists working hard to change the world. "What we're doing, it matters," says Steptoe, played with quiet economy by Bill Nighy.

    "Joy" is the personal stories of the three scientists — mostly through the eyes of Purdy, a polite lab-coated warrior. "If I hear a commotion, I'm not very good at staying out of it," she says. Perfectly played by Thomasin McKenzie, Purdy is both vulnerable and strong, learning through the process to be a better human. James Norton plays Edwards with charm, self-doubt and calm spirit.

    Jack Thorne's script nicely explains the massive pressure the trio faced. IVF may have become common and uncontroversial over the last decades, but back in the late '70s it was experimental and shunned. The Anglican church called it a sin, the newspapers labeled it Frankenstein-ish and other... Read More

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