The Frog 395 Posted February 5, 2015 Share Posted February 5, 2015 Fearing a merger with Viacom, Les wants to buy out National Amusments' controlling share. CBS boss Les Moonves, fearful a merger with Viacom will be forced upon his company after majority owner Sumner Redstone dies, is discussing ways to buy out the broadcaster’s controlling shareholder, National Amusements Inc., sources told The Post. Moonves, the 65-year-old CEO of the Tiffany network, believes a merger with Viacom will leave him in an inferior position vis-à-vis Philippe Dauman, the Viacom CEO, and could shortchange CBS minority shareholders, sources said. As a result, Moonves has been having discussions with Wall Street heavy hitters about backing such a buyout, sources said. http://nypost.com/2015/02/04/moonves-looks-to-buy-cbs-ahead-of-potential-viacom-merger/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToriElectra 291 Posted February 5, 2015 Share Posted February 5, 2015 Dangit, we WANT Viacom and CBS to merge back, so the Star Trek properties won't be split up anymore! This isn't good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glimmer 240 Posted February 5, 2015 Share Posted February 5, 2015 I'm surprised he's going to this length since even with a re-merged CBS/Viacom he would definitively be in charge even over Dauman. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Former Member 207 Posted February 5, 2015 Share Posted February 5, 2015 I'm surprised he's going to this length since even with a re-merged CBS/Viacom he would definitively be in charge even over Dauman. Yeah, given Moonves' senority under Redstone, the only way I could see him not running a re-merged CBS-Viacom would likely be out of spite. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NEOMatrix 1295 Posted February 5, 2015 Share Posted February 5, 2015 I wonder if a re-merged Viacom would buy Time Warner's half of the CW and continue the CBS/Turner March Madness coalition. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
channel2 874 Posted February 5, 2015 Share Posted February 5, 2015 Dangit, we WANT Viacom and CBS to merge back, so the Star Trek properties won't be split up anymore! This isn't good. That would be the one of the only good things about it (remember that fellow Desilu creation Mission: Impossible is split up in the same way) If you don't know, the reason Viacom and CBS split was because there was infighting that was damaging the company. I'm not sure if a re-merge could be done without triggering that again, though Les DOES seem to have a bigger ego (and, frankly, to be more competent) than Dauman... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cbs2newengland 71 Posted February 6, 2015 Share Posted February 6, 2015 I don't think the marriage the second time would work. The spinoffs were best in the long term. In the first few years, Viacom prospered while CBS suffered, now CBS is flourishing while Viacom is struggling since MTV Networks isn't en vogue (unless you're like me and I like to watch Catfish) but who else is watching Nick, VH1 or the Jersey Shore? This risk would hurt the CBS side of the business just like how CBS was hurting Viacom prior to the split. It was good billboard material to have Dan Rather and The Rugrats together, but it financially was just plain bad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Frog 395 Posted February 6, 2015 Author Share Posted February 6, 2015 Les would need around $2.2 billion to buy out NAI's stake. http://nypost.com/2015/02/05/les-moonves-needs-at-least-2-billion-to-buy-cbs/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cbs2newengland 71 Posted February 6, 2015 Share Posted February 6, 2015 First time I've seen Squawk in Manhattan, and the guest this morning was Les Moonves. I agreed with him on the rumors of Time Warner and he explained the reason why Viacom had to break up. (as I previously mentioned last night.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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