Viacom

Sumner Redstone moved on Thursday to boot Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman from the company’s board of directors, a harbinger of even more dramatic change. Here are 10 candidates for his successor.

Sumner Redstone-controlled National Amusements just dropped the big one: It says it has replaced five of Viacom’s directors, including CEO Philippe Dauman. The company has said that it would challenge such a decision at the Chancery Court in Delaware, where Viacom is incorporated.

Former Viacom chief Tom Freston is adding to the chorus of critics calling for Philippe Dauman to be replaced as chairman-CEO of Viacom. Preston gave a lengthy interview Wednesday to CNBC in which he didn’t hold back on his assessment of the state of the company he helped build during his more than 25 years at MTV Networks.

Sumner Redstone’s former companion, Manuela Herzer, is renewing her legal effort to have Redstone declared mentally incompetent, comparing the ailing 93-year-old billionaire media mogul to the bumbling “King Lear” in the William Shakespeare tragedy.

An effort to replace some directors is said to be underway, and there may be a possibility of recombining Viacom and CBS, which split in 2006.

In court papers, Viacom chief executive Philippe Dauman and board member George Abrams have asked the judge to order an immediate medical evaluation of Sumner Redstone. They also ask for a quick trial, arguing that Redstone is suffering from “overwhelming physical ailments,” is unable to speak, stand, walk, eat, write or read, and has a progressive neurological disease characterized by dementia.

Jeff Lucas, who has been with Viacom since 2006, is leaving to join Snapchat, one of the tech world’s hottest destinations, sources say, adding that the executive, who took over ad sales for the entire company last year, is set to exit in July.

Amid growing evidence that Sumner Redstone is planning sweeping changes at Viacom, speculation in the industry has turned to who might be recruited as the successor to CEO Philippe Dauman. Much of the focus, sources say, is centering on Tom Freston, the former MTV Networks boss and Viacom CEO who was ousted by Redstone in 2006 and replaced by Dauman. Judy McGrath, Freston’s former top lieutenant at MTV Networks, has also been mentioned as a possibility.

The No. 3 cable provider, which has 6 million residential and commercial customers, has agreed to carry 22 Viacom channels plus Epix, its joint venture with MGM and Lionsgate. Cox also will offer “an expanded selection” of programs via its on-demand platforms which serve TV and mobile devices.

Shari Redstone has long been on the sidelines of her father’s $40-billion media empire. But in the last month she has emerged as a central figure in the battle over the future of Viacom Inc. and CBS Corp. The 62-year-old vice chair of the two media companies was widely suspected as the force behind Sumner Redstone’s unexpected decision last week to oust his longtime lieutenant, Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman, from the trust that will eventually determine the future of CBS and Viacom.

The Viacom board might want to lawyer up. The next move by Sumner Redstone, the 92-year-old controlling shareholder of the media giant, could be to shake up the 10-member board.

The mental competency of the ailing 92-year-old media mogul Sumner Redstone is, once again, at the center of a bitter dispute. Viacom and its chief executive, Philippe Dauman, fired back with everything they had on Saturday, attempting to discredit a sudden move by Redstone to change succession plans for his $40 billion media empire.

Viacom’s board of directors voted Wednesday to stop paying chairman emeritus Sumner Redstone. The move follows recent legal actions that questioned the mental capacity of the 92-year-old media mogul, who received $2 million in compensation in 2015.

The battle over the fortune of ailing Viacom and CBS Inc. mogul Sumner Redstone shifted to a new front Monday after a judge threw out the case over his medical care and both sides targeted each other with new $100 million-plus lawsuits.

New court documents reveal that Sumner Redstone’s former girlfriends, Manuela Herzer and Sidney Holland, received $150 million from him over a five-year period.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge David J. Cowan ruled Monday that attorneys for the media mogul and Sumner Redstone’s ex-girlfriend and longtime companion will be allowed to solicit 30 minutes of sworn testimony from Redstone. The session will be conducted at Redstone’s home and videotaped.

As second-quarter TV ad revenue fell 5%, Viacom is hoping that a new targeted advertising deal with Roku will help resuscitate its advertising business. Viacom and Roku announced a new partnership that will give Viacom access to Roku’s audience data and enable the company to deliver targeted advertising to Roku’s various audience demos.

 A declining supply of ratings and reduced advertising loads pushed Viacom’s advertising revenues down for its fiscal second quarter, despite a strong scatter TV marketplace.

Dish’s Sling TV is getting a slate of new channels as a byproduct of negotiations with Viacom to avoid a blackout on the satellite service. Now Comedy Central, BET, Spike, MTV, Nick Jr. and other unspecified channels will be available on Sling TV in the coming months.

Viacom shares are up more than 9% following the announcement this morning that its channels will remain on Dish Network for several years — ending a war of words and threats that the programming might go dark.

Viacom’s 18 channels remained intact on Dish early Thursday even as the midnight ET deadline for the sides to reach a new carriage agreement passed. The fact that the channels stayed on past the contract expiration deadline indicates that the two sides are continuing to negotiate in an effort to avert a blackout that threatens to hit the bottom lines of both companies. Dish’s satellite TV service reaches about 13.8 million subscribers around the country.

Dish CEO Charlie Ergen said his company was prepared to drop Viacom channels permanently if the satellite provider can’t reach a deal on fees with the programmer. “We’re prepared to move on as Suddenlink and others have done without the content,” he said, speaking on a call with analysts to discuss quarterly results.

Negotiations between Viacom and Dish Networks are going down to the wire. Without a new agreement by Wednesday night, nearly 14 million customer homes would lose access to Viacom channels, including MTV, Comedy Central, VH1, Spike, BET and Nickelodeon.

A judge reaffirmed the ruling ahead of a scheduled trial in a mental capacity suit filed by Manuela Herzer, the former companion of ailing media mogul Sumner Redstone.

Viacom boss Philippe Dauman will not be sitting down for a planned deposition today as settlement talks in the Sumner Redstone health care lawsuit are underway. There’s no deal right now but talks on an agreement between reps for Redstone’s side and the media mogul’s former companion Manuela Herzer are moving along, according to sources.

Viacom will look to capitalize on comScore’s cross-platform measurement tools and advanced demographic capabilities for linear TV, video-on-demand, digital and over-the-top environments.

These are the directors of Sumner M. Redstone’s entertainment empire, which may soon become the center of a very public power struggle.

She says she has patched up her relationship with her media mogul father, Sumner Redstone of Viacom and CBS, as a legal battle looms over money and power in the family business.

The April-to-June period looks to be a busy one for Viacom. The company expects to announce its strategic partner for Paramount in the second quarter, as well as a resolution of its widely watched carriage negotiations with Dish Network, CEO Philippe Dauman told investors today at the Deutsche Bank Media, Internet & Telecom Conference.

The decision is a major legal victory for Manuela Herzer, a former companion of Redstone, the former head of CBS and Viacom.

Shari Redstone is emerging from the long shadow of her larger-than-life father, Sumner Redstone. The feisty 61-year-old former attorney is stepping into the spotlight to exert her influence in the affairs of Viacom Inc. and CBS Corp. — even if it means bucking her father’s wishes for who should lead one of the storied media companies.

Watching Viacom and CBS seek to sort out the succession mess that is now Sumner Redstone’s legacy, it’s pretty simple to trace much of the drama back to the mogul’s ill-considered, seemingly knee-jerk decision to split up the two companies back in 2005.

The Viacom board today named CEO Philippe Dauman executive chairman, replacing Sumner Redstone who has become chairman emeritus — the same role he has at CBS following a change announced yesterday. Redstone endorsed the decision; his daughter, Shari , was the only member of the board to vote “no.” The board offered her the job of non-executive vice chair, which she declined. She’ll remain non-executive vice chair.