Word: paramount
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Diller almost owned Paramount, but in 1994 it slipped away. He nearly won control of CBS, but he lost that too in an abortive bid later that same year. This is what he does own, bought in quick succession last summer and fall: 1) Silver King Communications, whose main assets are 12 TV stations that comparatively few people want to watch; 2) Savoy Pictures, an independent film studio known for producing movies (Last of the Dogmen, for example) that comparatively few people went to see but a studio that owns considerable cash and a quartet of television stations...
...HIGH-FLYING, HIGH-VISIBILITY world of media moguldom, Frank Biondi has always been the rare bird: a quiet one. As the president and CEO of Viacom--the conglomerate that owns the Showtime and mtv cable networks, Simon & Schuster publishing, the Blockbuster video chain and Paramount's movie and TV empire--he has been regarded as a smart, low-key executive who stresses teamwork over autocratic rule. But being a team player is not always an asset when the reigning autocrat--in this case, Viacom chairman Sumner Redstone--wants to run the show. Last week, in a move that surprised practically...
Redstone has been especially concerned with the performance of Paramount Pictures, the glamorous centerpiece of Viacom's $10 billion acquisition of Paramount Communications in 1994. The studio has had a string of box-office disappointments lately--including Sabrina, Jade and A Vampire in Brooklyn--and Redstone complained that too many films were put into production with subpar scripts. The Viacom boss has been spending a growing amount of time in Hollywood, attending marketing meetings and consulting on details as small as what promotional knickknacks to send to video stores overseas to help push Paramount product...
...Paramount executives maintain that the studio actually exceeded its financial targets in 1995, thanks to successes like Congo and Clueless. Indeed, top Paramount executives Jonathan Dolgen and Sherry Lansing were just given new contracts, and Redstone seems eager to work with them--closely. "Sherry said to me, 'I promise you I won't make a picture unless I'm in love with the script,'" Redstone relates. "That was the problem with Jade. I liked the picture, but I didn't know who was killing whom...
...Viacom, was ousted by chairman Sumner Redstone, who said the company needed more aggressive leadership. Nine years ago, Redstone lured Biondi away from Coca-Cola, and in 1994 he awarded him $16.3 million in cash and stock-option bonuses for his role in Viacom's takeover of Paramount...