[opendtv] CBS Storm Washes Over Viacom
- From: Monty Solomon <monty@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: undisclosed-recipient: ;
- Date: Wed, 22 Sep 2004 11:12:07 -0400
CBS Storm Washes Over Viacom
By GERALDINE FABRIKANT
September 22, 2004
As CBS News faces one of the worst public embarrassments in its
history, experts say that the damage to the network's news division
could be significant - and costly.
But CBS's parent company, Viacom, is not expected to suffer much of a
blow from the scandal over the National Guard documents that CBS News
now concedes cannot be authenticated. Viacom, which grew out of a
small chain of movie theaters that Sumner M. Redstone, its chairman,
acquired from his father in the 1950's, stretches far beyond CBS, and
the fate of its other businesses is not closely tied to the
reputation of its news operation.
Viacom owns cable networks, including MTV, Nickelodeon and Showtime.
The company also operates the Paramount Pictures movie studio; Simon
& Schuster, the book publisher; and Infinity Broadcasting, the
nation's second-largest chain of radio stations behind Clear Channel
Communications. It has a controlling stake in Blockbuster Video,
which it is planning to spin off soon.
The television division accounted for $1.2 billion in profit, or
one-third of Viacom's $3.6 billion operating income last year, but
most of that profit came from the local TV stations it owns and from
advertising generated by its prime-time entertainment and other
programs.
The national news division, whose evening news program remains stuck
in third place in the ratings behind NBC and ABC, generated no more
than $100 million to $300 million in operating profit, according to
one person close to the company.
...
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/22/business/media/22viacom.html
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