"...[T]he Redstone era will come to an end, and with it the likelihood that either CBS or Viacom will last long as independent companies." English please! "...[S]omeone like Verizon"? English please! As for substance, it appears that Ms. Redstone has blown it by allowing publication of a statement to the effect that she would never, under any circumstances, consider an offer for either company: minority shareholders be damned!
Just don't mess with Colbert. Or a lot of other good/ great things, on CBS, like "60 Minutes."
That is my worry.
Imagine if it becomes a national network like Sinclair Group. Heaven help us ...
3
this does a good job of illuminating some of the issues with
dual class shares at companies...we need to see more coverage of this and pieces on some of other issues that arise w this structure
Unfortunately, it appears that the judge refused to take into consideration what was good for the company. As the author points out Shari Redstone has no real media experience. Compare how CBS has been the #1 network for 9 years under Moonves vs the drop in Viacom stock under Shari's handpicked CEO, Bob Bakish. Nepotism is a cancer to any organization, and Shari is proving no different.
7
A dangerous move. But if they would take their hands off the press and keep journalists independence to tell the facts as they are, as Bezos seems to be doing with the Washington Post, may be there is hope for fairness. Perhaps there is room for cautious optimism?
If "Inception" was a Paramount (part of Viacom) film, it would have been a bit of a "National Amusement" to see this real-life drama and uncertainty over a child who inherits their father's media empire, since the story line of a similar family-owned business empire was such a major feature of "Inception" (a Warner Brothers film).
Actually, perhaps part of the reason why CBS is so skittish about this merger is that they seem in much better shape than many parts of Viacom. For example, Viacom's film unit Paramount Pictures has had an alarming number of high cost flops in recent years. If not handled properly, this merger could be bad for CBS. So it's not surprising that the CBS board has a strong wish to control the details of any possible merger decision.
2
Break them all up.
A few people have WAY too much control over communications of all kinds in OUR United States of America and around the world.
Break up all social media, too, and regulate the hell out of every last one of them.
14
@ njglea,
Here, Here.....I thought the airwaves belonged to the public. Silly me.
2
"...both companies will be profoundly affected, and the broader media landscape fundamentally transformed."
Do the old-school networks really matter that much anymore? Their entertainment shows are mostly derivative and formulaic, and their news shows are mostly hours-old stories that have already been reported on web sources. Everything is saturated with commercials to the point of being nearly unwatchable.
What is their plan to compete with web-based, on-demand, commercial-free, a la carte sources of news and entertainment?
4
CBS has a sort-of plan with CBS All Access. They launched a new Star Trek series, and apparently had some success with that. They are now expanding to Canada and Australia, following a logical path of moving into English speaking territories first.
So there's something afoot, which is more than Comcast (NBC) can say for itself. Fox gave up, ABC is under Disney (which has a definite plan), Hulu will most likely be absorbed into the Disney colossus, and with Netflix, Amazon and Apple also in the mix, the odds were always long on CBS's success and with all this chaos and distraction, they are only getting longer.
I doubt there's room for more than four global behemoths to dominate streaming: some tech companies plus Disney.
2
The new Star Trek series may have had some success but it's just awful and many sectors away from the spirit of the Trek Universe. The new movie franchise did a much better job of replicating the feel and spirit of the originals, even with the destruction of Vulcan. So many new stories and directions are now open to explore in the new universe.
I'm not sure who should win here though Redstone really rubs me the wrong way and the decline of such a historic studio is basically her fault. The breakup of the Star Trek franchise with a greater, deeper history than Star Wars that had nearly as much potential to be exploited was beyond stupid. I hate what CBS did to its television share and am okay, even like what Paramount did with its movie share.
All I want out of this fight is to see a great Hollywood movie studio back on its feet and Star Trek back in one piece with someone at the helm who really cares about its history, philosophy, and potential.
1