Cable properties can’t emulate the networks. But, they can build finite competitive advantages through bits of good content that can be milked for a time. Changes in technology will never eliminate the choke point that accompanies good content. It will exist online and offline just as it has existed in print and pictures.

Maybe Viacom’s new management will be focused on providing good content – but, I doubt that. Somehow I suspect they will be more interested in doing deals and selling Wall Street on Viacom’s future prospects. Such actions would be consistent with both their own backgrounds and with Sumner Redstone’s expressed tendencies.

A Financial Times article entitled “Jumping Jack Crash: Digital Kills the Video Star” ends with a quote from Mr. Redstone: “We will seek out every sensible deal – whether in the digital space or otherwise…And…we are determined not to let it get out of our hands.”

Those are scary words for investors who have entrusted their capital to Viacom. When a public company convinces itself it can’t afford not to do a deal, it usually gets the deal – and shareholders pay the price.

There are real problems at MTV – and real challenges at Viacom. Both The Financial Times and The Wall Street Journal noted that ratings for the MTV Video Music Awards were down 30% this year. That’s on top of a decline in ratings the year before. The internet also presents challenges (and opportunities) for Viacom. But, are Dauman and Dooley really any better equipped to tackle these problems than Tom Freston was? It’s difficult to imagine anyone better suited to run the new Viacom than Tom Freston was.

This is a big step backwards for Viacom. The benefits of autonomy that might have been reaped under Mr. Freston are unlikely to flourish under Dauman and Dooley, who are, by all accounts, legates of Chairman Redstone. The leash has been tightened.

Page 3 of 3 :: First | Last :: Prev | 1 2 3 | Next