CBS and MTV Really Are a Perfect Pair
Quarterly results again show how a merger would help preserve some of Hollywood's most iconic institutions.
Reunion time? Tune in soon to find out.
Patrick T. Fallon/Bloomberg
Soon, CBS may be saying “welcome home” to MTV and Paramount Pictures. The businesses’ latest quarterly results show why they would be better off back under the same roof.
CBS Corp., the $19 billion broadcaster, is said to be nearing an agreement to merge with its $13 billion corporate sibling, Viacom Inc., which owns cable networks such as MTV, VH1, BET and Comedy Central, as well as the Paramount Pictures film studio. Fourteen years ago, they all one made up one company, a collection of media assets assembled by billionaire Sumner Redstone through his legendary takeover battles. He’s 96 and ailing now, so control of CBS and Viacom has shifted to his daughter, Shari Redstone, who is behind the plan to put them back together.