Viacom Chairman Sumner Redstone will be evaluated Friday by a doctor hired by his ex-girlfriend in a legal brawl over who should have the power to make health care decisions for him.
A Los Angeles Superior Court judge has ruled to allow a medical examination of Viacom and CBS chairman Sumner Redstone. In a hearing Friday, a judge did not allow a request by Redstone’s ex, Manuela Herzer, to have the 92-year-old executive deposed. But the judge did rule to allow for Redstone to be examined for one hour by Herzer’s medical expert.
The 61-year-old executive has spent the last week getting torched by an activist calling for his ouster and a shareholder lawsuit saying he and the rest of the Viacom board put loyalty to Executive Chairman Sumner Redstone ahead of their fiduciary duties. And if that’s not enough to put Dauman on edge, now the CEO may be forced to duke it out with Shari Redstone, daughter of the 92-year-old company founder, and Charlie Ergen’s Dish TV.
Viacom Inc. on Wednesday pre-released details about executive pay that show an 85% drop in compensation for its ailing 92-year-old executive chairman, Sumner Redstone, amid legal battles questioning his health and competence.
The embattled media giant that owns MTV, Comedy Central and other popular brands, got hit with a double whammy on Tuesday — a shareholder lawsuit accusing the board of failing its fiduciary duties and a highly critical activist investor presentation.
Sumner Redstone’s lawyers are asking a judge to dismiss a petition that seeks to have the media mogul declared mentally incompetent, claiming the case is an unwarranted intrusion into Redstone’s privacy.
Exclusives
Canadian investment firm TRC Capital has ruffled execs at Viacom by offering shareholders a so-called “mini-tender” — a lowball price for them to sell the firm a small stake in the company. Viacom does not endorse TRC’s unsolicited mini-tender offer and recommends that shareholders do not tender their shares,” it says in a release issue.
CBS Corp. CEO Leslie Moonves would become chairman of the broadcaster upon the death of Sumner Redstone under an agreement with Redstone’s daughter Shari, according to a person familiar with the situation. The arrangement lessens the potential for discord over succession at CBS after the death of Sumner Redstone, the 92-year-old billionaire who controls both CBS and Viacom Inc. and serves as chairman of both media companies.
Judge David J. Cowan said Monday that Viacom and CBS executive Sumner Redstone does not have to submit to a medical examination in a suit filed by the 92-year-old media mogul’s former girlfriend seeking to take control of his health decisions. The judge said Viacom’s CEO, Philippe Dauman, may need to be deposed about his recent interactions with Redstone, but if he gives testimony it should be restricted to details about medical issues.
The hearing Monday afternoon in Los Angeles Superior Court has been prompted by a recent filing by Sumner Redstone’s former companion, Manuela Herzer, who contends his signature was forged on a recent document. Redstone controls CBS Corp. and Viacom Inc.
Viacom Chief Executive Philippe Dauman on Monday sought to calm investors worried about the ailing health of Executive Chairman Sumner Redstone — and the future of the media empire he controls. Redstone, 92, is the controlling shareholder of both Viacom and CBS Corp.
Wall Street speculation is at fever pitch about what happens next at Viacom and CBS (both controlled by the ailing 92-year-old Sumner Redstone).
Two of the largest shareholders in Viacom Inc. have made the highly unusual move of publicly questioning Sumner Redstone’s mental fitness to remain executive chairman of the multi-billion dollar media company.
Media mogul Sumner Redstone won’t have to submit to a battery of medical tests to determine his mental competence — at least for now. A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge on Monday denied a request by Redstone’s former girlfriend, Manuela Herzer, to speed up the legal process to determine whether Redstone is mentally fit to make decisions about his health.
A bitter battle to control the fortune of ailing billionaire Sumner Redstone escalated Wednesday when the media mogul’s ex-girlfriend filed a lawsuit alleging that he is mentally impaired and unable to make decisions. The lawsuit raises important questions about whether the 92-year-old Redstone is capable of overseeing the affairs of the two media companies that he controls, Viacom Inc. and CBS Corp., and whether he should be ejected from the top of the multibillion-dollar empire.
TiVo and Viacom have announced a partnership designed to create more highly targeted campaigns for advertisers, using the set-top box maker’s measurement tools and Viacom’s proprietary data and ad solution dubbed “Vantage.”
The companies said in a joint statement Friday they had resolved the legal fight over carriage of channels and were “entering into mutually beneficial business arrangements.”
Viacom’s stock is off 37% this year, and it faces lower TV ratings, weak ad sales and a lackluster film slate. The shift has been dramatic.
Viacom investors are feeling wrung out like a wet sponge. After watching ratings at the company’s MTV, Nickelodeon, Spike and Comedy Central fall more sharply than their peers — with nary a response from Viacom’s executive team — investors are now watching the company’s shares tumble at a faster rate than other media companies.
NBC’s $200 million investment in BuzzFeed and Vox shows the outline of a new media world that may prove life-threatening for big companies. Aside from Comcast, the media companies scrambling to escape disaster and crack the digital code include Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox empire (which comprises Fox studios, the Fox broadcast network, and the FX, National Geographic and Fox News cable channels), Time Warner (Warner Bros., CNN, HBO and the various Turner channels), and the Walt Disney Co. (Disney studios, ABC and ESPN).
As the comic’s pulled library collects dust at TV Land and Centric, Viacom has a difficult decision as morals clauses don’t exist to help recoup money on a tainted product.
Viacom Expects Slight Gain In Volume
Viacom, which has suffered in recent years from ratings declines at its major cable networks, expects to notch a greater volume of advance advertising commitments as part of its annual upfront negotiations — but the reasons behind the slight uptick may have only a little to do with traditional TV.
As CBS Corp. investors gather at New York’s Museum of Modern Art for the company’s annual meeting Thursday, its largest shareholder is expected to remain cloistered in his mansion in a gated enclave north of Beverly Hills.
Shari Redstone is in line to succeed her father, Sumner Redstone, at CBS and Viacom, according to details that emerged Wednesday about the structure of the trust that will collect controlling stakes in the two media titans. Shari, 61, will become the irrevocable chairman of CBS, worth $30.7 billion, and Viacom, worth $27.4 billion, sources close to the situation say.
Viacom continues to add its data-driven offerings for advertisers, as it rolls out Viacom Vantage, a data-driven advertising service that enables advertisers to reach their custom targets at the program level across the Viacom Media Networks. Viacom Vantage predicts which content will perform the best for its advertisers across MTV, Comedy Central, VH1, Nickelodeon, CMT, Spike, TV Land and Logo.
The media company took a $785 million charge for its fiscal second quarter, more than half of which was due to an epic write-down of under-performing programming on its cable networks.
Theories abound on Wall Street about what conflicts might arise if either CBS or Viacom receives an outside bid in a post-Sumner Redstone world. Both companies are majority controlled by Redstone’s Boston-based National Amusements. The problem, of course, is that once Redstone’s reign ends, a trust takes over the running of National Amusements and that trust is staffed by members of both companies, with their own allegiances and interests.
Viacom and CBS are not getting back together. “We have no intention of buying CBS or buying any other big corporations out there,” Viacom Chief Executive Philippe Dauman told investors on Monday. “We are not going to be a consolidator.”
Philippe Dauman doesn’t want his MTV — at least, not the current iteration. The Viacom CEO is ready to shed a generation of execs who helped build MTV Networks into a cable powerhouse — but then presided over its ratings decline.
Viacom shares jumped 1.8% on Thursday after the media giant announced a cost-saving restructuring that cut its three operating units to two. But the moves left some observers wondering if it was orchestrated by Philippe Dauman in his role as CEO or as chief estate planner for controlling shareholder Sumner Redstone.
There will be no replacement for departing MTV Networks Music & Logo Group Van Toffler. Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman today announced a restructuring, with the company’s three largest TV networks groups: MTV Networks Music & Logo Group, Media Networks Entertainment Group and Kids & Family Group consolidated into two under Entertainment Group and Kids & Family Group toppers Doug Herzog and Cyma Zarghami.
A day after Van Toffler exited his role as president of MTV Networks Music & Logo Group at Viacom following a 28-year run, Viacom is poised to unveil a major corporate restructuring later this week. As part of the latter, Larry Jones is out as TV Land president. The news, which is said to be a surprise to many internally, comes as his Viacom-owned network is prepping a creative reinvention.
CBS CEO Leslie Moonves would need around $2.2 billion to buy out National Amusement Inc.’s stake in the media giant. Moonves, the New York Post reported yesterday, is talking with banks and private equity firms about buying NAI’s stake.
The 91-year-old media mogul, Sumner Redstone, who is said to be in poor health, failed to deliver his usual effusive praise of Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman during the company’s latest earnings call Thursday. The absence of the limelight-loving billionaire is bound to set off another round of speculation about the future of his media empire that spans entertainment powerhouses Viacom and CBS.
