Comcast drops $125 million on a looong list of emails

SDH Comcast dug into its deep pockets, not to purchase a newspaper or smaller cable company, they dropped some cash on Dailycandy.com, a shopping newsletter for the shopping female to fluff up its Comcast Interactive offerings. Comcast CEO Brian Roberts no doubt ran this by the wife and got positive feed back. However the real winner in this is Bob Pittman, the man who played a huge roll in the dumbest merger in the history of American business. Pittman paid $3.5 million for the newsletter and now he and his partners at the Pilot Group are walking away with that and much much more. We're shocked to hear that Viacom was also in the running to acquire the site but was out bided by Comcast. Viacom sure does have a bad rep of being out bided don't they. Wonder if Viacom Prexy Phil Dauman will lose his job over this latest miss? Look for some kind of tie up with Comcast’s The Style Network and E! Entertainment Television programming.

Les Moonves is trying too hard

-SDH There are many questions hanging over Viacom and CBS, both were separated in an effort to create shareholder value and in our opinion to end the battle of the successors between Les Moonves and Tom Freston who at the time were Co- CEOs of the combined company known as Viacom. Since the companies went their separate ways, the only thing that was created was more headaches for all parties involved. Both companies have been struggling to gain footing along with its competitors. CBS CEO Les Moonves spent big trying to land CBS on the good foot but none of his well publicized acquisitions has added any value to CBS that is worth mentioning. Some of his most recent splurges include the purchase of Wall Street blog, Wallstrip.com which to this day we still don’t get. He scooped up Lastfm.com only to re-launch it with much fanfare promoting its new free internet radio format, something already available all over the web. There is the whole Katie Couric hiring which failed big time and is costing the company a lot of money due to her salary and ad dollars. His most recent splurge was on Cnet Networks, a digital media company which produces websites like, Cnet.com, Chow.com and ZDnet.com. As far as CBS’s whole digital push, its Les Moonves swinging at marble sized balls with a broom stick hoping for a direct hit. These expensive splurges and CBS’s lack of love on Wall Street at the moment will ultimately lead to Moonves’ ouster. Hell. we think Sumner Redstone’s finger is already on the trigger. We campaigned (if you will) for Les Moonves when he was the shining star in Sumner Redstone’s eye. We called for him to be installed in dual rolls as CEO of both CBS and Viacom. But that was just us being naïve and jumping on the bandwagon (yeah we have the balls to admit it). But what seems to have happened here is that Les Moonves got a little too sure of himself and got a big head to go along with an even bigger ego. This is the man who spent big to get into the record business by re-launching CBS Records when the record business was trying to get out of the record business. This is the man who spent big to get into film with high salary hires. Les Moonves was trying too hard to please and in doing so, spent money where he didn’t need to, or perhaps shouldn’t have at all. Les Moonves is just an analog executive trying to survive in digital world and in doing so gambled big, not only with company money but perhaps with his job as well. Some of the things Moonves should consider moving forward if he is still around is to spin off the radio business and sell book publisher Simon & Schuster. Doing this would probably tighten the focus at CBS a bit. Moonves needs to also hold off on anymore Internet acquisitions. Sumner Redstone can’t be too happy with Moonves at the moment.

Sumner Redstone is about to violate your privacy

-SDH We almost forgot that Viacom still had an open lawsuit against Google's Youtube.com for copyright infringement. Well the legal action just got bumped up a notch by a court ruling this week ordering Youtube to hand over sensitive user information to Viacom and its legal eagles. Viacom will get their hands on your Youtube.com user IDs, information about which clips you watched and your IP address. The question still remains, what does Viacom really want? If the company is taking this action against Youtube, what about those other sites that are also streaming Viacom owned content without the company’s permission? Guess you have to go after the big guy in the yard to prove a point. While Viacom is looking to prove widespread unauthorized viewing of its shows like "The Daily Show" and "The Colbert Report" on Youtube, privacy watchdogs are howling that the move is a massive invasion of privacy. YOUTUBE HANDS PROFILES TO VIACOM [NYP]

Will Tom Freston ever break his silence?

By SDH When Sumner Redstone fired Tom Freston to cover his own short comings on the whole Myspace deal, he sent Tommy off with a sweet $85 million thank you pay out after Tom signed a gag order baring him from talking shit about Redstone and Viacom. But gag orders don’t last for long and it has probably expired already. We know Tom Freston has lots to say about his short stint as CEO of Viacom working directly under Redstone. We would love to hear what really happened with the Myspace.com deal because the talk is that, it was Redstone himself who prevented Tom from moving on the social networking site which would have fit nicely with MTV and its online properties. We think a tell all book is in order. Sumner paid big to keep Tom quiet but people always talk.

Sumner Redstone will be remembered as cantankerous old man, Les Moonves will be done soon, Tom Freston was fired by Sumner because of Sumner

“I guess I’d like to be known as a loving and supportive father and grandfather,” -SUMMNER REDSTONE ON HOW HE WOULD LIKE TO BE REMEMBERED By SDH The New York Time’s Tim Arango (Wazzup Tim?) puts fingers to keyboard on the subject of Sumner Redstone’s legacy and the drama that hangs over it. Sumner is like that old man who lives in that house on your block with the uncut lawn and old truck in the driveway that everyone is afraid to say hello to because he is mean and gives the neighborhood kids and their mommies the creeps. For years many have wondered who will succeed him as lord of CBS and Viacom, and even to this day the soon to be 85 year old Redstone, can’t give a straight answer. It’s as if he doesn’t even want to entertain the thought of not being in control one day believing he will live forever. In the article, analysts question the break up of CBS and Viacom, An insider claims Tom Freston was fired because Redstone hampered his ability to move on Myspace (Duh!) and CBS CEO Les Moonves is on the slow road out. Ok so we added that one. Sumner Redstone seems to have rubbed many people the wrong way, on both the business and family side. So we can’t help but wonder, if when he dies, some in Hollywood and even his family will silently be celebrating.

BET For Brown People in the UK

BY ZOE S. Viacom's Black Entertainment Television (BET) will launch in the UK via News Corp's BskyB in 8.8 million homes. This is the network's first major expansion overseas. As far as competition, BET execs aren't worried, as there are no direct competitors BET's size in the UK. This is a good move for the cable network under the leadership of Debra Lee but we still think BET has a lot of work to do with their programming style. They also need to continue working on their digital offerings by sniffing out deals that make sense for their audience and their content. "For the U.K. version of BET, we will be giving BET's U.S. content a regionalized look and feel that reflects the U.K. marketplace, and as we grow and develop the channel, we look forward to partnering with the U.K. creative industry to give BET an even stronger British accent," BET's International General Manager Mike Armstrong said in a statement. Viacom's BET to launch in the United Kingdom

Old man Sumner honored and more in our afternoon aggregation

BY SDH Viacom/CBS's immortal leader, Sumner Redstone was honored by the Paley Center for Media and everyone who is anyone was their except for CBS's day to day ruler Les Moonves who was on the west coast tending to some CBS business. Couldn't he have stuck an underling with that and be present to see the boss honored? Not a good look Leslie [HR] What's up with Seagram killer Edgar Bronfman Jr. being investigated for insider trading dating back to his Vivendi Universal days as Executive Vice Chair [AP] MTV Prexy Christina Norman will call it quits at the end of the month to "Have more time for herself" No one just ups and quits if all is well right?. We think MTV is eliminating layers which they have a lot of and Christina was asked to bow out gracefully [B&C] MySpace exec Travis Katz says that more of you will hang out on Myspace while on the go in about 5 years via your mobile device. Funny we thought Myspace would have just become a stain on the major internet wall by then with the next big thing taking away all the fakes and pedophiles [NMA]

Will Sumner Redstone outlive Frank Biondi, Mel Karmazin, Tom Freston and Phil Dauman as well?

-SDH Sumner Redstone's preference in having lawyers run his media company isn't recent, it goes way back to the 1980's when Terrence A. Elkes was president of the company. Anyway Elkes passed away at the age of 73 due to complications of a malfunctioning heart valve. Elkes was 11 years younger the Sumner Redstone who is still healthy and strong enough to swim naked in his pool and perhaps spend bedroom time with his wife Paula (OK try not to picture that). Which one of old man Sumner's former lieutenants will be next to bow out before him? The man must be paying top dollar to make sure he wakes up every morning. Mr. Elkes joined the company as general counsel a year later, from Parsons & Whitmore, a privately owned paper mill company at which he had been vice president and general counsel. He became president of the company in 1978 and said at the time that he realized there were great cultural differences between the entertainment business and paper companies. Mr. Elkes realized that Viacom needed to expand. Among the deals that occurred on his watch was the decision to put Showtime together with the Movie Channel to compete against Time Warner’s Home Box Office. Viacom also acquired MTV Networks and CBS’s KMOX-TV and tried to buy parts of MGM/UA Entertainment. Terrence Elkes, 73, President of Viacom in ’80s, Dies [NYT]

ABC on CNN: Politics brings CNN and ABC News together

Either CNN Prexy Jon Klein had nothing for the 7-8pm time slot tonight, or he loved the New Hampshire debates that ABC News broadcasted so much he had to air it on his network. Dian Sawyer was even on CNN which was kinda weird. In an interview CNN's Jon Klein said that he believes the lines between media giants are slowly being erased and CNN airing ABC's content is just another step forward in the no barriers direction. Now we can start speculating about some kind of deal in the works and this is just a public test run, but we won't. Jon Klein spoke about how the whole thing came about saying, he called his good buddy David Westin, who is President of ABC News who was getting on a plane to head to New Hampshire and asked if he could re-air the New Hampshire debates and it was a go. Is this really where big media is headed? Will we see Jeff Bewkes calling Sumner Redstone asking if he can air Nickelodeon content on the Cartoon Network? Or Rupert Murdoch calling Jeff Zucker at NBC asking if he could air Mad Money on Fox Business Network? Ok so that’s a stretch. But is no barrier, media industry workable where media companies trade content? Sure media companies buy syndication licenses to air shows of other networks that are no longer on the air but that’s the norm. What was the agreement on the back end of CNN airing ABC's New Hampshire debates? Is ABC News getting a cut from Ad revenue or was it just an agreement between two friends, CNN's John Klein and ABC News's David Westin. -SDH

Media company in the mirror: Time Warner could take on a familiar face

-YOSH Do you remember that MTV show where fucked up teens went under the knife to look like their favorite celebrity? Well as the time comes closer for the beginning of a new era at Time Warner, speculations continue to grow regarding what the mighty media company will look like in about a year. Analysts continue to predict that new Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes will do a drastic makeover of the company that many are saying will resemble Viacom. Is such a remake in the works and is Bewkes using Viacom as his template? Jeff Bewkes may be realizing that in today's media environment, size doesn't matter. Bewkes may spin off the cable-television division and sell the AOL Web and Time Inc. magazine units, said Gamco Investors Inc. fund manager Chris Marangi and National City Bank analyst Daniel Poole. The remaining company, anchored by the film studio and cable-TV networks, would resemble Viacom Inc. -- and accordingly command higher multiples, Marangi said. Time Warner May End Reign as Largest Media Company (Update1) [Bloomberg] EARLIER: Is TimeWarner’s problem, its size, and could a Viacom style break up be the answer to its long standing woes?

The Viacom plot to terminate Jamie Lynn Spears

-ZOE S. With the recent bomb dropped by pop star Britney Spears's little sister that she is with child, it wouldn't be far fetched to think that Viacom's Nickelodeon is already stewing up a scheme to politely quietly drop her from their line up. Even though they have said publicly that they are behind her, that statement is standard corporate response to situation that has sealed the fate of a top star of a top network. There is no one out there, at least with kids anyway that can truly say, Spears should be able to return to her show on Nickelodeon whose audience ranges from 9-14. Bottom line, Nickelodeon should put at the top of their list for 2008, to drop the younger spears ASAP. However Nickelodeon has to put on their thinking cap when they drop her because dropping her from their roster of tween stars due to her pregnancy can lead to lawsuits and protests by rights groups. But it can be done, if Nick plays up the fact that keeping her on air, will send a wrong message to young girls and boys which at the end of the day is true. Keeping her on air can also send ripple effects all the way up the ladder to parent company Viacom. The plan to drop spears should be one that Viacom legal eagles have a heavy hand in, but it should not lead back to them. You may say then what about those naked pictures of Disney star Vanessa Hudgins? If you are indeed asking this, then you're as stupid as the chair you're sitting on, because come on, really! If you ask me, entertainment/media companies should include in their contracts with individuals some kind of image and behavior clause that gives them the right to drop or suspend talent in situations like these with no ifs ands or buts. Jamie Lynne Spears is a product being marketed by Nickelodeon and unfortunately the product has to be pulled permanently or temporarily.

Viacom's Philippe Dauman showing Tom Freston & Les Moonves how it’s done

-YOSH With the prediction by some analyst on Wall Street that the media industry is in the shitter, we never thought we would hear of one media company that is actually looking good on paper. Viacom, of all media companies, is sitting pretty in the black, thanks to cable and movies. It looks like the apple of Sumner's eye, Philippe Dauman, coming in to tighten things up is paying off, and somewhere in the hills of Hollywood, old man Sumner Redstone is doing naked back strokes in his pool as Paula looks on with a "WTF" expression on here face. Anyway with Viacom looking sweet, overpaid analysts have nothing but nice things to say. Martin Pyykkonen, an analyst with Global Crown Capital says: “What I like about Viacom is that they are not going out and doing these multi-billion dollar deals. They have not made splashy acquisitions but they have done some smart things with their brands online" Frederick Moran, an analyst with Stanford Group, adds: “Viacom has clearly begun its financial comeback. I suspect you will see accelerated growth in the fourth quarter and through the early part of 2008 despite general softness in advertising,” Moran said. “The only thing that could sidetrack it would be major economic slowdown. Viacom’s stock should outpace other major media companies for the next couple of quarters.” Viacom “transforms” into a winner [CNN Money]

And now this morning's worth mentioning media business news

-SDH With all the changes Rupert Murdoch has already made at Dow Jones & Co, like setting up an office for himself there, firing and hiring new people to run the Wall Street Journal, it makes you wonder why in the world a vote if even needed tomorrow. Is it like a ceremonial vote to mark the official transfer of ownership or something? For all we know the Bancrofts are already fighting over their cut of the $5 Billion Rupert paid for the joint. [NYT] The porn guys at Penthouse Media Group are doing the same things the guys are doing at other media companies like News Corp are doing. They are dropping major green on social networking sites to drive business. [NYT] Something called The Competition Commission is pushing for BskyB to cut it's share in ITV from 17.9% to between 5 and 10%. Will James Murdoch, son of Rupert go for that? [MediaGuardian] While it's employees were outside screaming "WE WANT OUR BENEFITS BACK YOU BASTARDS", Viacom/MTV was busy sending out press releases like the once announcing formation of Digital Fusion, a new group that will focus on creating customized cross media campaigns for advertisers [Mediaweek]

Is Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman's wife Debbie addicted to plastic surgery?

-ZOE S. Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman probably doesn't know it, but his wife Debbie may have a problem. Anyone who has met Mrs. Dauman in person probably noticed it right away but was too much of a brown noser to say anything or even talk about it behind her back. How can one ignore the obvious? Debbie Dauman may be addicted to plastic surgery. Take a good look at her face. Does that look like a normal face to you? Tight eyes, an even tighter smile, a smooth and shiny forehead and a chin that has been chiseled as much as an ice sculpture at one of her Phil’s parties. We have to say she is sometimes scary to look at. She gives off a touch of Jocelyn Wildenstein with a dash of Nicole Kidman topped off with a Lil Kim. Ok maybe the touch of Jocelyn Wildenstein is a but much. Does Phil notice that his wife is changing right before his eyes? He should, because he is paying for it. It looks like she is only concerned about her face though which is sad, because she could use some work in the boob area. Makes you wonder how many times she’s heard “tell us what you don’t like about yourself Mrs. Dauman”

The Viacom Walk out in pictures

What if the walk out today by Viacom employees pissed that the company took away most if not all their benefits, was one big fucking ruse to promote Viacom's brands? OK so it wasn't. But wouldn't that be crazy though? More pix HERE

Time set for walk out at Viacom today

-ZOE S. According to a press release, pissed off freelancers at media giant Viacom, will walk out the door today at 3pm in protest of some nasty and unfair changes in their benefits. Is this the only way CEO Phil Dauman and his henchmen can cut costs? The holiday season has arrived and you work for one of the largest media corporations in the world. You receive your invitation to the company’s annual holiday gala event, and along with it, you are given the alarming news that in a few weeks, large portions of your employee benefits – including health insurance and retirement benefits – will be slashed or cut. Tell Dauman to cut the perks available to him and his team while he's at it At 3 P.M. Today, What Will Sumner Do? [Intelligencer]

The “M” in MTV stands for music, or does it?

-SDH I want my MTV. Do you still want your MTV? Many have been complaining that the cable network lost the “M” many years ago when it dropped it’s mostly music related programming for reality programs like “The Real World”, “Road Rules", “The Hills” and a slew of others. But take a good look at the programming. Has MTV really lost the “M”? A big chunk of the reality shows the network airs or aired were based on individuals in music. Shows like “The Osbournes”, Meet the Barkers”, Making the band 1 2 3 & 4 and more recently the hit “Run’s House”. So based on this, isn’t MTV maintaining the “M”? Some artist have been calling on the network to play more videos, but come on who are we kidding? With today’s many portable media devices, one can watch videos whenever wherever they want. I am a music video fan and I have to say that I don’t sit around to watch videos on shows like “TRL” I head straight for the web where I can watch unlimited music videos of my favorite artists as many times as I want. CONTINUED... Perhaps MTV got wind of millions of other viewers like me, and decided to cut back on the music videos and focus more on original programming. Artist like Justin Timberlake, 50 Cent and others always go out of their way to send MTV public messages to play more music videos but come on, it’s not like they’re watching, and its not like if MTV hardly plays their videos it’s going to hurt their sales. Maybe a few years back but that has changed drastically thanks to people like Steve Jobs. MTV is rolling with what works for them at this stage of their existence, and that's reality programming, after all they are one of the first to start the craze. The company recently revealed that their ratings have jumped for the first time in about 2 years. This jump isn’t due to airing some of today’s crappy music videos, it’s due to the very programming many have publicly reprimanded them for. Shows like “A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila," You know you watch it! To be honest I would rather sit in front of my television and watch interesting and entertaining shows like this than to watch a rock video with the cliché set up with the band in the center of an abandoned warehouse pretending to rock out. Or a cliché rap video, which today is just a 4 minute commercial for Bentley’s, and a 3 minute audition for some scantily clad chick shaking her unmentionables. Some of MTV’s music programming like the once mighty, “Video Music Awards” have fallen off big time. This could be due to their insistence on moving the show from state to state, BIG mistake! Come on guys what the movie business is to Hollywood, the music business is to New York. Can you see the Oscars being broadcasted from Madison Square Garden? I didn’t think so. Two of the worst shows were done in Miami, Followed by one I think in Vegas. The shows home base is here in New York City at the “Radio City Music Hall” or “The Met” During these times the show was a hit. So could this be taken as a sign that even though some viewers are calling on MTV to air more music videos, they really don’t care about music videos? At the end of the day, majority rules and it looks like the majority want’s their reality. Advertisers are more likely to buy ad time around shows like “Tequilla” and “Runs House” than around that stupid “Superman” video being aired via TRL which died when Carson Daly left. My 14 year old cousin watches all his music videos on his video iPod whenever he wants, get my drift? Perhaps some of us are too hung up on the "M" RELATED: SOME WANT THEIR MTV [NYP]

Disturbing the Daumans

-YOSH Sumner Redstone should go easy on Viacom CEO Phil Dauman if he has been slacking off at work and lugging around the Viacom offices on Mondays because he may have a perfectly good reason why. The New York Post reports that every Saturday, a bunch of picketers gather in front of Mr. Dauman's upper east side digs and protests in an effort to get him to cut the violence in rap videos. Guess they forgot to also protest over the violence in movies that Paramount Pictures releases. Perhaps they are saving that for another day. "glorify violence and criminal activity, promote degrading images of women, show negative and stereotypical images of people of color, and portray black and Latino men as pimps, gangsters and thugs." And for a minute there we thought it would have been the pissed off Viacom freelancers making all that noise in Dauman's hood? PICKETS PICK ON MOGUL HOMES [NYP]

Jeff Zucker pretends as though he isn't already kicking the tires on Dreamworks SKG, While Phil Dauman acts as if all is well

-MARTY Media execs are some of the biggest diplomats in the world. They could be closing a deal right under your nose, and you wouldn't know based how they talk the subject down. NBC Universal head Jeff Zucker is the latest media biggie talking down a hot topic. David Geffen, a partner in all things Dreamworks made it clear that NBC Universal is one of only two companies he would do a deal with. In a report in the New York Times we got the impression that the only thing stopping a deal from happening is the annual $600 Million bankroll the DreamWorks partners were seeking if they were to do a deal with NBC Universal. But now in front of a bunch of media rollers and investors, Jeff Zucker is playing the "If" game. Guess he was trying to play it cool with Phil Dauman from Viacom on hand. Speaking of Viacom CEO Phil Dauman, he is playing Mr. Nice regarding the public beef between DreamWorks and Viacom. "Our objective is to proceed with mutual respect," Dauman said. "We're going to proceed with calm and deliberateness." Zucker: Would Take a Look at DreamWorks [AP]

As it turns out News Corp's Peter Chernin may have set the blue print on how media CEOs may handle the strike going forward

-MARTY Unlike the heads of their film divisions, media CEOs are more low key when it comes to the current writer's strike, negotiating under the radar to help get things back to business. CEOs like Bob Iger of Disney,Jeff Zucker of NBC Universal and Les "Love Boat" Moonves of CBS are all said to be three of few media biggies in on negotiations. It makes sense that those three would roll up their sleeves and dive in because a chunk of their business is Television and/or Film. However there are always the bad apples, and in this case its Rupert Murdoch's evil number two who claims to be a Democrat but is a closeted Republican Peter "Petie boy" Chernin. Petie Boy seems to be playing the "Dick Size" game as usual. In the early days of the strike Chernin actually hi-lited how the strike would save News Corp Money adding to the already outrageous comment made by Michael Eisner. But the fucked up part about all this is that he may get a few of his fellow media execs on his side of the line. What strike? Silence golden for moguls [THR]

Old man Sumner speaks his piece on the writers strike

-MARTY Mike Eisner called them stupid, while telling media companies they should have kept their mouths shut about their digital businesses. Now old man Sumner Redstone, perhaps the oldest person in the media business, is speaking his piece on the writer strike and kinda implies they (the writers) are jumping the gun in demanding their cut of the digital distribution pie because digital pirates are still out there. Guess he wants them to wait until the digital pirates go away before they get a cut, which means never. "Everyone seems transfixed by the riches (that digital platforms) promise," Redstone said. "The opportunities are certainly out there, but so too are the challenges -- challenges that I submit are far more imminent." "If this sort of theft is allowed to continue unabated, the incentive to make blockbuster movies disappears," Redstone said. "If studios aren't making big movies, screenwriters aren't collecting big paychecks. Fewer scripts are submitted ... and there are a lot of people out of work." Redstone pickets pirates [Reuters]

Is TimeWarner’s problem, its size, and could a Viacom style break up be the answer to its long standing woes?

-SDH TimeWarner’s CEO elect Jeff Bewkes made it clear in statements following the announcement of his promotion that one of his main focus after taking over the luggy media giant will be to create shareholder value. He didn’t mention any specifics and rightfully so, after all he is just CEO elect. But how does he plan to do this? Many have suggested that he either spin off and/or trim up Time Inc, and/or spin off the AOL unit. But we wanted to play a game of whatifs. Continue... What if Jeff Bewkes and the TimeWarner board were to decide to go the Viacom route and split TimeWarner into two publicly traded media companies, Time Inc and Warner? Would it be more successful than the Viacom CBS split? Doing so would undo a marriage that took place almost two decades ago and would create two new media giants that will now have to battle other giants on their own like Disney, News Corp and NBC Universal to name a few. There may also be some early up hill battles as well, but it could all pay off in the long run. The Time Inc side would be made up by, the magazine business of course, but in addition, the company will consist of the internet properties making it heavy on digital media. By this, the Time Inc company would be the smaller of the two also making it the more nimble. The Warner side would be made up of the more traditional properties, like film, television, and cable networks all Bewkes’ strengths. But who would run what, and would such a drastic change cut away at Bewke’s power? Would he have oversight of both companies? We mentioned in the past that maybe Time Inc needs to be put on a diet, but perhaps it’s all of TimeWarner that needs to be put on a strict diet. The company is seen by many as too big to fully adapt to these nimble digital times. Split in two, a Time Inc and Warner company could get a shot at flourishing and making shareholders and investors happy because God knows they are longing for some happy days, thanks to the lingering stains of the dumbest merger in history. But you may ask why would it work for TimeWarner if it isn’t working for Viacom? But who said it wasn’t working for Viacom? Both CBS and Viacom are doing respectably well based on recent quarterly reports, then again that depends on one’s definition of “respectably well”. But we haven’t seen or heard any reports of shareholder revolt over the split…. Yet. We have no doubt that this is something that is on the table at Time Warner. Bewkes seems to be all about staying on the good side of Shareholders, and rightfully so because at the end of the day he works for them. Jeff Bewkes was a team player under Dick Parsons, but with his turn coming up to bat, he may just surprise us by moving quickly to trim the fat and unclog TimeWarner’s arteries so it can keep up with the new fast moving crowd.

And now this morning's worth mentioning media business news

-YOSH Sumner Redstone's Williamsburg Brooklyn Connection Viacom is doing all it can to make sure it keeps it's feet planted in digital media. Thet dumped some cash into a new online network and in return they got 3 guys working out of media lab somewhere in Williamsburg Brooklyn producing digital shorts. But where does Viacom's digital Czar Mika Salmi fit into all this? Did he even have anything to do with this deal? NBC Universal continues to expand it's online presence doggystyle KNOWING that you can never underestimate people’s love for their cats and dogs, NBC Universal and Procter & Gamble have set up a Web portal that looks something like a Yahoo or AOL for pet owners, with a bit of Facebook and MySpace thrown in. The site, Petside.com, offers a full menu of information about dogs and cats, from the serious (how to diagnose your pet’s illnesses) to the silly (funny animal videos). There are links to shopping sites (like Petco.com) and articles about topics like what to do if visitors are allergic to your pet (hint: vacuum). Visitors are encouraged to set up social networking profiles in order to meet other pet owners. In London, Google Skype rumors running wild Is eBay tired of Skype, the online telephony firm already? According to the Guradian's 'The digital content blog" Google is in talks to take the company of eBay's hands for a nice chunk of cash no doubt.

is cancer calming Sumner Redstone down

-BY YOSH The usually mouthy Sumner Redstone seems to have hit a calm streak, at least it seems that way. But this could be due to a recent discovery during a doctor's visit. "I went to see a doctor just about a cough and he took my PSA [prostate-specific antigen]" he recalls. "It was extraordinarily high- it was an 8. Mike Milken, who suffered from the same disease, came to my house with four doctors." If this isn't reason to officially put in place a succession plan, then we don't know what is. Sumner has always said he will continue to rule Viacom and CBS from the grave. These statements and more has lead to bad blood between he and his daughter Sheri. However these days, thanks to his cancer scare, Sumner is back on talking terms with Sheri and is now sounding like a proud poppa who kicked his son out of the house for his own good, regarding his dismissal of Tom Cruise from the Paramount lot. The scolding "may have been a wakeup call" for Tom, says the corporate lion. "I did him no harm. I do want the best for him. I wish him luck in everything he does." Sumner Redstone & daughter back on speaking terms [NYDN]

and now this morning's worth mentioning media business news

TIME WARNER CABLE SUBSCRIBERS DROPPING LIKE IRAQI CIVILIANS The company lost a net 83,000 subscribers during the quarter, mainly due to difficulties in its Los Angeles and Dallas markets, which it acquired last year from bankrupt Adelphia Communications Corp. The losses brought its subscriber total to 13.3 million. NEWS CORP MAY THROW A BANCROFT A BONE Rupert Murdoch will make the Bancroft family feel important when the deal closes on his DowJones takeover. Natalie Bancroft, a member of the family that is selling Dow Jones & Co Inc for $5.6 billion, will join the News Corp board allegedly. VIACOM GETTING INDIAN MONEY FOR IT'S NEW INDIAN CHANNEL IN INDIA Indian media company Network18 said on Wednesday it would invest $90.5 million over three years in its joint venture with Viacom Inc, which will launch a Hindi-language general entertainment channel in India next year. RDA'S NEW FOODY AD NETWORK FOR FOODIES The Reader’s Digest Association is set to announce later today its Food Advertising Network@RDA, featuring a self-serve Web advertising service called AdWizard@RDA. The AdWizard allows marketers to create, track, and accordingly alter display ads in real-time across RDA’s Food and Entertaining Affinity, including Every Day with Rachael Ray, Taste of Home, Chef’s Catalog and Allrecipes.com. The project is geared mostly towards small to medium-sized companies. -YOSH

sumner redstone will probably die an isolated and miserable old man, and phil dauman will be the only one at his funeral

At his age you would think the old fart that is Sumner Redstone would be humble, warm and grandfather like. Nope. It seems like the older he gets, the meaner and more insecure he gets. He rules Viacom and CBS from his mansion in the hills of Hollywood and he creates tension between himself and the people who work for him. Current Viacom CEO Phillippe Dauman must be the only person Sumner doesn't fight with. Then again when you're a yes man you tend to be in line right with the boss. Well it looks like a new war is brewing but this time Dreamworks founder David Geffen is firing the first shot in the new issue of Vanity Fair. -SHINESY "Nobody is going to treat me or my partner [Spielberg] in that manner and stay in business with us. Nobody." geffen goes on to call DreamWorks sale to paramount "a poor choice" and accuses Redstone of "bullying. And I will not be bullied. There is no fight I will run from. I am absolutely unafraid of Sumner Redstone." Geffen continues: "These people are a nightmare. I've never seen behavior like this in my entire life." Showdown at Fort Sumner [VF]

Sumner "Two Faced" Redstone

-YOSH Slapping all the other heads who have passed through Viacom in the past, old man Sumner Redstone, giddy due to the company's latest gain in profits, said that hiring stiffy Phil Dauman as the company's CEO was the best thing he and his board ever did. Of course Sumner, you have nothing but good things to say about your top execs as long as they are making you money. But like Time Warner CEO Dick Parsons said "Eventually Sumner fires everyone". The results from the media conglomerate, which owns MTV, Comedy Central and the Paramount and DreamWorks movie studios, beat Wall Street's expectations and sent its stock price up nearly 3 percent to $41.56 a share on the New York Stock Exchange. We can only imagine the not so nice things he is saying about CBS boss Les Moonves with that company's recent stock slide. Shares of its sister company, CBS Corp., which split from Viacom nearly two years ago, slipped 2 percent yesterday to $27.67, a day after it reported mixed quarterly results, including a 3 percent drop in revenue. VIACOM NET JUMPS 80% [NYP]

Rupert Murdoch: We are working this web thingy

The real king of all media, King Rupert said that News Corp's web business is booming, the company's stock price continues to outperform other media stocks and the greedy bastards on Wall Street are taking notice. No one can deny the facts about News Corp's roll in the current race to digital supremacy among big media companies. It was News Corp, thanks to former Fox Interactive head Ross levinsohn who jump started the social networking craze among big media, costing Tom Freston his job. It is News Corp who now has people like Les Moonves and Phil Dauman of Viacom and Judy McGrath, once our favorite to be Viacom Prexy, spending big to show how Internet savvy they are. So Murdoch can stand on a podium and say, I shaped the current digital model big media is moving to. And on top of all this, he is so humble. What a fucking guy? "We have a long way to go, but we're starting to be rewarded for our efforts to transform ourselves into a company for the digital age," Mr Murdoch said. He said Fox Interactive Media's Internet portfolio reached more than 160 million people globally. News Corp nets a win [Herald Sun]