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Viacom
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Viacom is struggling with its new-media identity. Purchases like Neopets.com, an interactive pet site, and GoCityKids.com, a Citysearch for tykes, are relative unknowns. And MTV Overdrive, the network’s broadband video channel, hasn’t managed to catch on, despite appealing features like live-streamed after-shows and an online game linked to the popular Laguna Beach series. But Redstone is really fuming over Viacom’s failure to buy the already-hot internet property MySpace. Enraged by C.E.O. Tom Freston’s sluggishness in the race for the site, which ultimately went to Redstone’s nemesis Rupert Murdoch, Redstone replaced him with Philippe Dauman, who will seek to improve Viacom’s Web portfolio.
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Viacom is the number-one online entertainment destination and the 11th most-popular overall destination on the Web. In February 2007, more than 90 million unique viewers flocked to Viacom's online properties, which include an array of MTVN and BETN Web sites, as well as its other online properties (according to Internal Web Analytics Tracking and duplication from comScore Media Metrix February 2007). The company's sites continue to hit new highs in traffic and streaming video. MTV.com delivered a record 84 million streams in January, exceeded that mark in February with 85.1 million streams and again in March set a new record with 93.1 million. MTV.com ... delivered a record 25.6 million unique visitors in March. Also in March, Nickelodeon's online properties had their strongest monthly performance, with Nick.com pulling in almost 19 million unique users and TurboNick posted more than 80 million streams.
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[F]ar only Disney has allowed Apple to sell its new movies at the same time its DVDs are released, while MGM, Viacom's Paramount and Lionsgate (LGF) have partial deals. Hollywood has been wary of selling through Apple for several reasons: It's worried about giving Steve Jobs too much control over their product; it's worried about pissing off Wal-Mart and other physical retailers, who don't want to see digital copies sold for less than the discs they sell; and it's been haggling over price.
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News: On Friday, Viacom and YouTube/Google had a scheduling conference in the Southern District of New York. The biggest news from the hearing was word from YouTube/Google’s lead counsel Philip S. Beck of Barlit Beck Herman Palenchar & Scott LLP about the video fingerprinting technology under works. YouTube already uses AudioMagic’s audio fingerprinting technology to help identify copied audio files. YouTube is developing similar kind of technology to recognize video file fingerprinting, with anticipated deployment around September.
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Viacom's acquisition of Paramount and Blockbuster gave the company thriving new enterprises, but left the company in significant debt. To both relieve that debt and focus the company's energies, Viacom divested itself of several segments of its business. In 1995 the company sold the operations of Madison Square Garden to a partnership of ITT Corp. and Cablevision Systems Corp. for $1.07 billion. In 1996, the company spun off its cable systems in a deal with TCI. Although the split-off represented a break with Viacom's origins as a cable provider, the deal relieved the company of $1.7 billion in debt. The following year, Viacom left the radio broadcasting business by selling its ten radio stations to Evergreen Media Corporation.
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Viacom 18 will include television, film and digital media content across numerous brands as well as consumer products to build India's leading multi- platform entertainment company. The joint venture will launch a new Hindi- language general entertainment channel in India early next year. The service will consist of original, locally produced programming, acquisitions and content from MTV Networks. The joint venture will operate the successful local networks, MTV, VH1 and Nickelodeon India, of MTV Networks (MTVN), a unit of Viacom. In the future, Viacom 18 will launch a suite of niche channels from the MTV Networks portfolio, as well as new brands. Digital media content across all the television brands will be developed and distributed to Indian consumers.
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