Sumner Redstone : Viacom Looking For Cable, Internet, Gaming Acquisitions

Viacom is spinning off CBS Corp. but the same man stays in charge: Sumner Redstone, the Viacom chief executive who will be at the very top of both companies although no longer as CEO. Not to worry, though, he told The LA Times’ Sallie Hofmeister that his role won’t be changing. “I still control both companies. Les (Moonves) and Tom (Freston)do not make a move without calling me and discussing it. Hofmeister interviewed Redstone, 82, in the living room of “his hilltop mansion high above Beverly Hills” a few days before Tuesday’s board meeting.
Some excerpts:
On acquisitions: “Cable programming assets are at the top of the list, closely followed by Internet acquisitions and gaming, which is the fastest-growing part of the entertainment industry.” Would he buy Friendster or another social networking site? “Tom thinks certain Internet assets will help growth and work well with MTV. I don’t want to go into details.”
On missing the chance to pick up post-bubble internet bargains: “I never dwell on lost opportunities. If we need a Yahoo we will become a Yahoo. We’ll build it ourselves.” Continues in extended comments.


On splitting 5 years after the merger: “MTV had about 450 million subscribers worldwide (when the companies merged). It has more than a billion today, but that enormous value has not been realized in the present conglomerate structure.”
On dismantling: “The world of the conglomerate has passed. Two other major media companies are considering what we are doing to see if some kind of division of their assets would ultimately enhance their value.”

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