Viacom (NYSE: VIA) has disparate brands in a range of entertainment areas, all of which have tremendous potential — especially if the company is successful at getting them to complement each other. That was the basic theme (if you could call it that) of a q-and-a with Philippe Dauman, CEO, Viacom, during the UBS Global Media Conference. For the most part, it was a laundry list discussion, going piece by piece across the Viacom family, which only served to make the company sound more disjointed. A few times, however, Dauman alluded to Disney (NYSE: DIS) as a model company for its ability to get its brands to work together, and to extract multiple revenue streams from its intellectual property.
Digital:Third-party distribution: Most recently the company signed a distribution deal with Bebo, not to mention its earlier deal and investment with Joost. “We expect to announce several with major companies and smaller companies over the next few weeks leading up to CES.” As for acquisitions, Dauman won’t say anything specific, though of course he says organic growth is the company’s “principal emphasis” and we’re “still working towards monetizing some of the reach we have.” There will still be deals, but they’ll be small. Deals likely to be in such areas such as kids & family and virtual worlds. Nothing major seen for now, but he wouldn’t say otherwise even if there were. Lots more after the jump…
Videogames: “Our audiences love games… we are going to increase our presence in the game area.” Harmonix proving to be a great acquisition. Rock Band is flying off the shelves — great franchise. “We’re selling out everything we can make.” As the installed Rock Band base grows, the revenue can grow elsewhere, via music sales and other ancillary revenue. Claims to be the #2 casual gaming company after Yahoo.
Cable: Strong cable ratings from new shows. His example: Tila Tequila: A Shot at Love. Viacom programming represents 35 percent of VOD content. “We have the kind of programming that lends itself to integrated marketing”
International: Still rolling out cable networks in key emerging markets. Cable network rollout precedes multiple revenue sources in each market, such as theme parks and IP licensing.
Film: Planning to take better advantage of cable brands. Looking forward, expect to see Comedy Central and BET-branded films. Brands will work together, a la Disney. In the near term, the company has a number of potentially big film projects that will be released. Company must take advantage of whatever financing is available, such as the Middle East. It wouldn’t be effective to use any more of the company’s own capital to finance films.
Overall: Dauman was asked what grade he’d give himself for his job. Of course, he didn’t take the bait, then talked up the company’s transformation. Company is finding cost efficiencies. Great strides… but always room for improvement. Question: Is Viacom strategically complete? “We have great assets in what we do… I believe we can grow additional brands taking advantage of some of the new platforms– so we’re never complete.”
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