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ViacomCBS

Don CT said:
Right, in it's original form, Viacom was the production house for most of CBS. Or at least the home video market.
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Not exactly, because it didn't produce anything. The government forced the networks to spin off their re-runs to outside syndication companies, and that's what Viacom originally was. If you were a television station that wanted to air former CBS TV shows, you contacted Viacom.
 
https://www.fiercecable.com/video/cbs-lionsgate-viacom-heat-up-media-space-m-a-rumors

Here is an update of the rumored Lionsgate, Viacom/CBS rumored deal


Lionsgate Vice Chairman Michael Burns answered a number of CNBC’s questions regarding potential consolidation options.

"We're very interested in the consolidation space," Burns said. "Obviously that's something very important to us."

Potential merger partners for Lionsgate, which Burns said now has a $7 billion market cap, included Comcast, Verizon and Amazon. But Burns said a rumored CBS-Viacom recombination could also potentially be a deal that Lionsgate would like to get in on.

“I do think the combination between the two of them ultimately may happen and it’s for no other reason than Shari Redstone and the Redstone family controls both companies,” said Burns, hinting that Lionsgate could potentially turn that into a three-way merger.


Meanwhile, activities surrounding a potential recombination appear to be ramping up at both CBS and Viacom. According to Reuters, CBS CEO Les Moonves and Viacom CEO Bob Bakish have held “exploratory discussions” regarding a merger of their companies, both of which are controlled by the Redstone family’s National Amusements. As the report points out, the discussions were preliminary and no official decisions regarding a remerger have been made.

According to The Wall Street Journal, Shari Redstone reluctantly set aside an attempt at a remerger in 2016 but never gave up believing it was a good idea. Now, as Disney is buying most of Fox’s entertainment assets and a number of other media consolidation deals are in the works, Redstone is reportedly thinking the time is now for the recombination, for the sake of “bulking up.”

Besides Disney and Fox, other notable media deals include AT&T’s $85 billion acquisition of Time Warner, Discovery Communications’ $14.6 billion purchase of Scripps Networks, and Sinclair’s $3.9 billion acquisition of Tribune Media.
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My view is this: If they don't remerge, each company has to do some serious thinking about merging with someone else. Because especially Viacom can't go forward the way it is.
 
RadioPatrol said:
And now another issue relating to Viacom and CBS its the outcome of the lionsgate deal.
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$7 billion is less than what Viacom offered for Scripps Interactive. So it's still in reach. But really, the best situation is a re-merge, and they both buy Lion's Gate. That would give them the right mix of assets to compete with everyone else.
 
RadioPatrol said:
Another op-ed says that Amazon should get CBS. But this is in the middle of the CBS/Viacom talks though.
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I would use the word "poppycock" about that article. Amazon would be better served buying Viacom, where it would gain access to Paramount.

But I don't see Amazon buying either company. However, Lionsgate is another story.
 
http://deadline.com/2018/02/cbs-viacom-what-does-a-merged-company-look-like-globally-1202283062/

Well here are the global implications of the CBS Viacom deal though

Viacom has been building a far-reaching international business since the late 1980s with the launch of MTV in Europe and the international roll out of channels including Nickelodeon and Comedy Central. In recent years it has also purchased leading terrestrial broadcasters such as Telefe in Latin America and the UK’s Channel 5, which have helped bring in over $2B of revenues a year. Meanwhile, CBS, which does not break out its global financials, has been aggressively growing its international programme sales and made its first major international broadcast statement with last year’s acquisition of Australia’s Network Ten.

CBS, with its high-profile broadcast business and premium network Showtime and a market capitalization of around $22.5B is larger than Viacom, with a market cap of $14B, although, arguably, the latter has spread its tentacles further than its former sibling around the world.

Viacom’s latest push has been into Latin America after buying Argentinean broadcaster and producer Telefe in 2016 for $345m. While Telefe previously produced a raft of programming in its own market, it didn’t exploit this and rarely owned international rights. However, since being taken over by Viacom, it has brought together all of its production capabilities, including Porta Dos Fundos, the Brazilian comedy producer it acquired in 2017, to ramp up the global reach of its content.
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Note this also affects the Ten Network deal and CBS in Australia.
 
https://nypost.com/2018/02/19/wall-street-isnt-sold-on-a-cbs-viacom-merger/

Update on the CBS/Viacom talks

The media world may be buzzing about a potential CBS-Viacom merger, but Wall Street isn’t sold on the idea.

Despite CBS’s relatively upbeat fourth-quarter results last week, the broadcaster’s stock slipped 2.4 percent on Friday, to $55.39.

In fact, shares are down 5.8 percent since they initially popped on Jan. 12 on the first reports that it and Viacom were again talking merger.

Viacom shares are down less than 1 percent over that period, slightly better than the S&P 500 index, which is off 2 percent.

“The Viacom deal is leaning on [CBS],” said Needham & Co. media analyst Laura Martin. “I think people who own CBS stock, who really bought into the unique assets … don’t like the idea that CBS is going to buy a dozen cable networks.”

The Tiffany Network’s current strategy of focusing on growing direct-to-consumer services is gaining traction.

During the conference call after the bell on Thursday, Chief Executive Les Moonves pointed to the success of CBSN, its news streaming product, as a model for its upcoming CBS Sports and “Entertainment Tonight” streaming services.

“We believe we can build a significant audience by launching an ad-supported free service with full mobile and on-demand capabilities,” Moonves said.
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http://variety.com/2018/tv/news/cbs-viacom-merger-talks-deal-1202735168/


Update on the CBS/Viacom talks

Board members from CBS Corp. and Viacom are expected to meet as soon as next week to begin discussions on the valuations of both companies for a possible merger.

Executives at both media companies have been hip-deep in crunching numbers and preparing financial data to guide the discussions between the members of the special committees assembled to consider options for a CBS-Viacom reunion. The deal is expected to be structured as an all-stock transaction with CBS as the acquiring entity and CBS Corp. CEO Leslie Moonves leading the combined entity. The valuation of Viacom is seen as the biggest hurdle that the sides will have to navigate.

Reps for CBS and Viacom declined to comment. The two companies were brought together by media mogul Sumner Redstone in a merger in 2000 but were split up again six years later out of Redstone’s frustration at a sagging stock price. Redstone’s National Amusements has firm control of both companies through his preferred voting shares. National Amusements, now steered by CBS and Viacom vice chair Shari Redstone, the mogul’s daughter, has been pushing the sides to recombine in the face of the overall upheaval in the global media landscape.


Over the past few weeks, several prominent Wall Street analysts have issued new research notes offering a more positive view on Viacom’s long-term forecast thanks to the changes undertaken by the new management regime installed in late 2016. When the special committees meet to talk deal terms, there will surely be push-and-pull between the CBS perspective that Viacom needs to be valued as its core cable TV and Paramount Pictures units stand today. The Viacom view, not surprisingly, is that the turnaround is underway and therefore demands a premium in the pricetag.

Michael Nathanson of MoffettNathanson Research raised his estimate of the performance of Viacom’s media networks division — housing its domestic and international TV channels — from flat in Viacom’s fiscal 2019 to growing 6%. Laura Martin of Needham & Co. upgraded Viacom stock from hold to buy on the improved forecast for Paramount Pictures and the stabilization of its domestic cable networks under the direction of Viacom CEO Bob Bakish.
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https://www.arcamax.com/business/businessnews/s-2065576

Because Moonves is smart enough to know that the initial offer controls the conversation. So he's going to make a below market value offer, insist that he run the company, make clear the Redstone's must take a back seat if they want this merger to happen and if they balk at the terms, drop it and blame them for the failure. He'll continue to run CBS until 2021 then and likely beyond. This merger is far from a foregone conclusion. It really only benefits Viacom unless CBS gets it for a song. Further, if Moonves can inspire someone else to make a higher offer for Viacom, the Redstone's have to meaningfully consider it or face litigation that they aren't acting as fiduciary's for the other shareholders. Sort of brilliant, really. Moonves might have the market deal with his Redstone problem for him!
 
Now Moonves can say he tried. There still might be offers from other entities for Viacom now that its been put into play. Clearly, Moonves is at least playing passive-aggressive with the desire of the Redstone's to recombine the companies and there is apparently not much that they can do about it.
 
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