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ViacomCBS

https://variety.com/2018/biz/news/sumner-redstone-guardian-britney-spears-lawyer-1203091276/

Here is an update on the Redstones.

Redstone, the chairman of National Amusements, Inc., is 95 and suffers from severe speech impairment and diminished mental faculties. Judge David Cowan appointed probate attorney Samuel Ingham to serve as Redstone’s guardian ad litem.

“I think it’s a long time coming,” Cowan said. “I’m surprised nobody brought it sooner.”

The trust battle between Redstone and ex-companion Manuela Herzer is headed to trial on Jan. 14. The two sides are fighting over a 2015 amendment to Redstone’s trust, which removed Herzer as one of his heirs. Herzer’s attorneys argue that Redstone lacked the mental capacity to understand what was happening.
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CBS has to be careful not to get top-heavy. It would make more sense just to dump Viacom not suck it into the fold. Shari really seems to want to sink the ship doesn't she.
 
Don CT said:
CBS has to be careful not to get top-heavy. It would make more sense just to dump Viacom not suck it into the fold. Shari really seems to want to sink the ship doesn't she.
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The problem with CBS is it's now small enough for someone else to buy. And they have a leadership vacuum with Les gone.

However merging with Discovery might be biting off more than they can chew. Es[ecially given the weakening market for cable channels.
 
TheBigA said:
The problem with CBS is it's now small enough for someone else to buy. And they have a leadership vacuum with Les gone.

However merging with Discovery might be biting off more than they can chew. Es[ecially given the weakening market for cable channels.
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I can't see the fit with Discovery. Viacom at least had some overlap. I don't think either would gel with CBS though. I could see a better fit with them buying the Fox RSN's. Cut ties with Viacom and focus on sports.
 
TheBigA said:
"Decouple?" How would that happen?
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The only way is to buy out the Redstones. I know that won't happen but CBS isn't being helped by them. They need to either go independent or be bought out by someone else. How will Viacom help CBS? I don't see how it can.
 
Don CT said:
The only way is to buy out the Redstones. I know that won't happen but CBS isn't being helped by them. They need to either go independent or be bought out by someone else. How will Viacom help CBS? I don't see how it can.
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well, the 21st Century Fox/Disney merger just got completed a few weeks ago and the split between "old Fox" and "new Fox" just happened too as a result, what if the Redstones sells their Viacom shares off while keeping their CBS shares and then allow "New Fox" to buy out or merge with Viacom to regrow the Murdoch empire. that's a hypothetical idea if the CBS/Viacom re-merger doesn't go through.
 
Will_H_69_9 said:
well, the 21st Century Fox/Disney merger just got completed a few weeks ago and the split between "old Fox" and "new Fox" just happened too as a result, what if the Redstones sells their Viacom shares off while keeping their CBS shares and then allow "New Fox" to buy out or merge with Viacom to regrow the Murdoch empire. that's a hypothetical idea if the CBS/Viacom re-merger doesn't go through.
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They could have just kept the FX Networks that had better content. I just don't see the value in the Viacom networks. Maybe the TV Land division would have some value to someone.
 
Will_H_69_9 said:
well, the 21st Century Fox/Disney merger just got completed a few weeks ago and the split between "old Fox" and "new Fox" just happened too as a result, what if the Redstones sells their Viacom shares off while keeping their CBS shares and then allow "New Fox" to buy out or merge with Viacom to regrow the Murdoch empire. that's a hypothetical idea if the CBS/Viacom re-merger doesn't go through.
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If they had an interest in staying in that game, they would have. The Murdochs cashed out, and I don't see them getting back into the business. They are now also the only TV Network that doesn't have a production house, so I am not sure how good the prospects are for "New Fox" in the long term. Lot of synergies in local vs national sports too that now no longer exist for "New Fox". If anything, I could see Viacom scooping up "New Fox" if the CBS deal doesn't go through.

I don't really see the appeal to "New Fox" as most of the content on Fox Broadcasting is produced by "Old Fox" and they likely won't get the production deals they had going forward (especially since Disney has enough programming hours to fill without them).
 
mnradiofan said:
They are now also the only TV Network that doesn't have a production house, so I am not sure how good the prospects are for "New Fox" in the long term. Lot of synergies in local vs national sports too that now no longer exist for "New Fox". If anything, I could see Viacom scooping up "New Fox" if the CBS deal doesn't go through.
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New Fox has a lot of Disney dollars right now, and they're in a position to BUY something that is more modern and less tied down to the past. They actually have the cash to buy both Viacom and CBS, if that's what they wanted to do. My sense is they're looking for a more modern 21st century production operation to buy.
 
TheBigA said:
New Fox has a lot of Disney dollars right now, and they're in a position to BUY something that is more modern and less tied down to the past. They actually have the cash to buy both Viacom and CBS, if that's what they wanted to do. My sense is they're looking for a more modern 21st century production operation to buy.
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Initially when the Fox/Disney talks came out the Murdochs initially wanted divested Sinclair or Nexstar stations though when the 20th Century Fox/Disney talks were pending though and that got called off though. How about Fox Corp merging with News Corp both managed by the Murdochs is that a modern 21st century production that the Murdochs will support?


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/News_Corp
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fox_Corporation
 
TheBigA said:
New Fox has a lot of Disney dollars right now, and they're in a position to BUY something that is more modern and less tied down to the past. They actually have the cash to buy both Viacom and CBS, if that's what they wanted to do. My sense is they're looking for a more modern 21st century production operation to buy.
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But, who could that be? Lionsgate? Don't see that happening. They could buy a smaller studio, but I am guessing that they signed a non-compete as it pertains to studios for a certain amount of time.

What I could see is someone buying what is left of Fox. It's valuable still, even though they don't own any actual content anymore. I'm thinking someone like AT&T may want to add broadcast/sports to it's roster of assets. They already have strong production assets, but have no broadcast resources to get them to the "cordcutters". They already have a news arm with CNN though, so Fox News couldn't be part of that deal. Disney could have taken Fox News, but I am guessing they didn't want to make the political statement that Fox News has aligned itself with. This would also solidify AT&T with sports.

Comcast already has NBC, so they'd be out for what remains (unless they wanted to make a play for Fox News while the rest goes to AT&T).

CBS would be out, as they already have a news play, and a broadcast network. Viacom, as stated, could be interested. We also can't rule Netflix out, they certainly have the money, and it would get them into sports in a big way (should they see that as needed). Amazon may also be interested.

I can't see why Fox would have gotten out of the cable/studio business if they wanted to stay in it long term. Cable networks are dying, so to be competitive in that space you are going to need a strong streaming platform, and nothing has been proven as to what the market will bear for those. So far, consumers seem to be fine with larger library streaming services, but reject anything specialized (SeeSo, etc). I think studios are hurting as well, as fewer people go to the movies and opt instead to use the nice setups that most have at home (again, another reason for streaming/VOD).

I really think that Murdoch saw this as the right time to go out, before things lost too much value. Serves as a nice retirement for him, and will take care of his family. I think if he could have, he would have divested Fox/News/Sports, but saw that as a non-starter with regulators (and the only other interested party, Comcast, also has no room for these three groups). I think if they intended to stay in the business of sports they would have held on to the regional sports networks, or tried to buy them back when Disney couldn't take them. (But again, I see those as part of the dying cable business, so they will only lose value and eventually money as they can't pay for those sports contracts with fewer and fewer subscribers).

Or, Fox could have decided to hang on to the properties they think still have growth opportunity (Fox being available for free with an antenna in most areas). Another possibility is a sale to Sinclair. They don't own as many TV stations, so less to divest, and they already expressed an interest in getting into conservative news.
 
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