Since Sunday's announcement in Broadcasting & Cable that Viacom subsidiaries Paramount Pictures, Lionsgate, and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios will launch a premium pay channel in fall 2009, gossip has run amuck about Viacom chief Sumner Redstone's decision to stop selling the subsidary studios' films to Showtime.
The New York Post reports that Redstone's growing frustration with CBS' low stock prices likely influenced his decision to create a new premium channel, and also suggests that the move might foreshadow his pick of Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman as his successor. The Post also accuses Dauman of harboring a desire to oust CBS' Les Moonves in a move reminiscent of Redstone's 2006 maneuver that ended the tenure of Tom Freston as Viacom CEO.
On Media , on the contrary, chalks Paramount's decision up to more of a "survival tactic than a case of sibling rivalry."
The Silicon Alley Insider takes the opposing stance, saying, "The key sign Moonves's days are numbered? Yesterday, Sumner killed Viacom's deal with CBS's Showtime, announcing that it would form its own pay channel." Perhaps, Henry Blodget writes, Moonves will be canned for not purchasing Facebook, as another Sumner "protege" was discharged for not buying MySpace. But given the two-year-company lifespan typical under Sumner, Dauman might be gone sooner than we think.
Have
Spotlight
delivered to your favorite newsreader. Click the orange link above to subscribe or use this link.
02138 is not automatically mailed to all Harvard alumni.
Enter your email and name below to reserve your FREE Trial Issue!
Your privacy is ensured. We never sell, disclose, or trade contact information.
02138 is an independent magazine and is not affiliated with Harvard University. Please note that 02138 is available to the general public by subscription only, but is not automatically mailed to all Harvard alumni.
