Les Today: Will he visit his wounded, and pay respects to his dead?

We are sure Les "Love Boat" Moonves has heard the news of some of employees getting killed and/or wounded in Iraq. Kimberly Dozier came out the lucky one but is breathing with the help of a ventilator all to bring in ratings for Moonves. Will Moonves hop on the CBS/VIACOM jet and pay Ms. Dozier a visit to show support or will he send an underling? Paul Douglas and James Brolan lost their lives in their effort to capture any and everything they could to boost Moonves's ratings. Will Moonves be present and their funerals to pay his respects to the dead and the loved ones they left behind? Journalist put their lives on the line all in the name of Journalism and ratings for their networks but at the end of the day its not worth it when you end up in a box or a hospital bed. more....

Morning Wire: The way we should have been doing it

And now the morning's top media business headlines according to us: Howard Stringer faces the question every corporate CEO faces, Can he save Sony? more... Tribune Co. would like to take back 25% if you don't mind more... Goodbye and Hello Katie Couric. She is still in the TV business you know! more... Disney announces what every other media company announces every month more... Doc upped again at the Daily News more...

Question of the day: The Mock up says it all

Was the Treasury Secy job offered to Dick Parsons? If so why did he reportedly turn it down? We read a few articles a few weeks ago about the TimeWarner boss being offered a spot in the Bush admin but he reportedly turned it down saying he loves his current job. Hey the guy does make sense! Why give up job like CEO of the world's biggest media company to join an embattled administration who will all be out of jobs in two years? Related: If Snow melts away, who'll succeed him?

Jumping the gun: But what would a Bewkes lead TimeWarner look and smell like?

Ok so at press time, TimeWarner CEO Dick Parsons didn't get fired by the board of directors and he didn't announce his resignation and we don't expect him to anytime soon. But we pride ourselves in thinking ahead and today's thinking ahead has us thinking about what TimeWarner will look like if and when Jeff Bewkes steps into Dick's shoes when he retires which again isn't happening anytime soon. As far as senior management, we see him either bringing in HBO's Chris Albrecht as his President, or even Time Inc's Anne Moore. Then again Jeff probably has some buddies outside the company who would get a first shot. We see him continuing the Parsons doctrine but with his touch. We see AOL being spun off or sold completely then again no.........because old media is betting big on new media. Hmmm maybe AOL CEO Jon Miller would finally get the axe. Maybe we are really jumping the gun here!! But we do have to talk about these things because they will happen one day. As far as smell, Bewkes looks like a cool water wearing kind of guy and a cigar smoker. So blend the two in your head and thats the smell.

Old media does what it does best, jump on the bandwagon

They either have to throw money at em and talk them into being a part of their huge establishment or, they have to embrace them. Big/Old media has been doing just that. They are all trying to appeal to the young folks. Tom Freston should feel really good knowing that if a teenager hears the name "Viacom" they know exactly what it is. They are just the coolest friggin media company around today. Wait........got off track just a bit. Oh yeah so the old media guys are hopping on the new media bandwagon. read...

Les Today, Late Edition: So Les wants more eyeballs for Showtime huh?

Les "Love Boat" Moonves has been watching HBO a little bit too much and now he wants to copy the HBO way of things. He says he plans to shake up Showtime in hopes of increasing the current subscription from 14 Million. (We can safely say that, No Julie Chen will not be named President of Showtime) Speaking at Morgan Stanley’s annual media investor conference, Moonves said Showtime needed to take a page out of HBO's book, programming to large audiences and not the nation's army of television critics. “One of things we’re going to do with Showtime … is make it more commercial,” Moonves said. “There’s no reason Showtime can’t have the next Sopranos. HBO has made their bones with Sopranos and Sex and the City, [while] Showtime is a little bit too much of an off-off broadway play. They’re interested in critics more than audiences.” Wait a minute, aren't we all critics? read....

Finally!!

We are back up and running!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Morning Wire: The "V" in Vivendi could be for "VIK"

Financier Alexander Vik is playing Carl Icahn but a nicer version. The Financier is look to take control of the French media giant and has offered the board a reported $42 a share, or just under $50 billion for the whole company but of course for any board these days, that price was shot down with a 12 gage. A few months ago, Icahn had to accept defeat in his nearly yearlong campaign to take over Time Warner. The flaw in his plan: failing to realize that Time Warner belongs to the most exclusive and powerful corporate club on earth, the conglomerate media, and that an attack on one is invariably perceived by the other club members as a threat to them all, with the result that hostile bids always fail. Now Vik is trying the same sort of thing, though in a way that calls to mind Pablo Picasso's gripe about the poseurs of the art world: "You do something, then somebody else comes along and does it pretty." read....

Les Today: This has nothing to do with Les Moonves

$5.8 Billion is the price tag on not going public. This is what the founding and controlling family of German media giant Bertelsmann AG will pay the only outside shareholder Groupe Bruxelles Lambert to buy out their shares in the company. We have been saying this since this story unfolded but whatever the Mohn family is trying to keep a lid on that taking the company public will shine light on, must be some serious stuff. Then again we have been also saying that they are just greedy and want to keep the company to themselves. FRANKFURT, May 25 — Moving swiftly to fend off a public stock offering, the founding family of Germany's leading media conglomerate, Bertelsmann, announced Thursday that it had agreed to buy out its only outside shareholder for 4.5 billion euros, or $5.8 billion. The deal, which came two days after the shareholder, Groupe Bruxelles Lambert, gained the legal right to demand an offering, will return Bertelsmann to the full control of the Mohn family. The family, led by Liz Mohn, the wife of its 84-year-old patriarch, Reinhard Mohn, had grown uncomfortable with the prospect of a public listing, which would have exposed Bertelsmann to the scrutiny of the markets and could have eroded the family's influence over its affairs. "I am happy about the buyback," Mrs. Mohn said Thursday in a statement. "It guarantees the independence of the company and its lasting and sustained development on the basis of our proven corporate culture." read...

What is it about this cover title that doesn't sit well with us?

We can't quite put our finger on it but there is something about this week's Businessweek cover title that makes us think of things other than the growth of companies. We may be over thinking it but even when we under think it we still get the same result. It just sounds like something your Doctor will tell you about that burning sensation between your toes. Anyway the actual story is very interesting. The 100 companies on BusinessWeek's list may not be big, but they're agile and fiercely competitive. Many have sniffed out niches no one else thought of. Some have only a little marketing experience. Quite a few are catering to aging baby boomers. And each year, they're creating 60% of the net new jobs read....

Even media companies get spied on

The MPAA means business when it comes to illegal movie distribution. Its so serious that they reportedly hired a spy (no not that spy---->) to watch Valence Media which has been accused of aiding online movie pirates. Valence Media, a company accused of aiding online movie pirates, says the group that represents Hollywood studios hired a computer hacker to spy on it.Valence Media, which operates the Web site http://www.torrentspy.com, was sued in February by several movie studios for allegedly helping people locate and download pirated copies of films. On Wednesday, the company sued the Motion Picture Association of America, saying the trade group paid a hacker $15,000 to break into Valence Media's computers and obtain private information, including e-mails, financial information and trade secrets. read....

Morning Wire: The last thing we need is another "Times"

Rupert Murdoch's Newscorp says it will launch a U.S. edition of it's U.K. paper The Times. So he will further confuse already confused readers with another title with the word "Times" in it. "This is a key moment in the development of The Times as an international media brand," Times editor Robert Thomson said in a statement. "We have seen a large increase in our Times Online readership in the U.S. and the appearance of the newspaper on the streets of New York marks the next stage in our print and web expansion." The launch is set for June 6, the week the soccer World Cup kicks off in Germany. read...

Late Late Breaking: Yeah but do we really care to pay for, of all things news

NBC seems to be bragging that they will be the first to offer news programming for sale on iPods. But seriously do we really care to pay $1.99 to watch news, archived or not? Media company's are really pushing the envelope. A variety of current, archival and specially produced material will be available for $1.99 a download through the iTunes store. "We're leading a trend to put our work and our journalism everywhere our viewers and users want it to be," said Mark Lukasiewicz, NBC News vice president for digital media. read...

Overheard in our heads: A conversation between Les Moonves and Tom Freston

Don't know why, but this just popped into our heads. We think this may be a typical conversation between Les Moonves and Tom Freston. Yeah we know..............CRAZY!!! Les Moonves to underling: Anything new about me on the blog networks today? Underling: Yes there is Les: Well did you print them out for me to read on my way home Underling: Oh yeah I will do that for you now Les: Oh and could you get Tom Freston on the phone for me please Underling: (looking at his phone on his desk) OOOK! (Phone rings) Les: Hey Tom Tom: Who is this? Les: Its Les Tom: (pause) What can I do for you Les Les: Did you read that I increased our quarterly dividend today. Tom: Oh yeah......good for you Les Les: Yeah man. So what are your plans for your shareholders? Tom: Um can I call you back........Sumner just walked in. that's all we could get out right now.

Question of the day: How long until Peter Chernin pushes James Murdoch out?

Peter Chernin may have gotten rid of one, but he has one more to go. The days following the departure of Lachlan Murdoch from his daddy’s empire, speculation stirred that News Corp Prexy Peter Chernin secretly coordinated the collision between father and son. Pete must have gotten wind that Lachlan will be the one he calls boss some day and made a “Hell No” decision to get junior out. With Lachlan gone Chernin can now sit a little comfortable but what about James, Lachlan’s younger brother? Yeah he is busy running daddy’s Sky satellite business for now, but at some point we predict the youngster will be summoned to Newscorp headquarters on 6th ave at some point. What will Mr. Chernin do then? Is he the devil keeping Rupert’s kids out of the main circle?

Of course you do. Why else would you hire her, for publicity? Then again, you are Les Moonves

Les "Love Boat" Moonves expectedly sees an upside to katie Couric joining his CBS News team and we are so expectedly not surprised. Leslie says he expects Katie to rake in some extra green. But of course wherever Les goes so does drama, or at least people who can't stand him. Several people stood on the street outside the shareholders' meeting in midtown Manhattan handing out leaflets criticizing CBS' management of its news business. The leaflets, prepared by the Writers Guild of America, which represents news employees, said CBS was compromising news quality with cutbacks. Wait those cutbacks were actually rolled out to cover katie Couric's pay. read...

Increased quarterly dividend= Phat pocket shareholders and Les & Sumner too

Les "Love Boat" Moonves is making sure he keeps his shareholders happy by Feeding the greed. Days after announcing the $1.24 billion sale of its theme parks, CBS Corp. said Thursday its board approved a 12% increase in the quarterly dividend. CBS said the dividend will be raised to 18 cents from 16 cents, and is payable July 1 to shareholders of record June 5. "This represents a 29% increase in our quarterly dividend since the start of the year," said Les Moonves, chief executive of CBS. Wonder what Les will use his cut to do? Probably let Julie Chen go on massive shoe shopping spree. read...

TimeWarner to Adelphia employees: You can keep your jobs.....for now

TimeWarner is not only a line for bad news, there are some good news lines some where in there as well. Hundreds of Adelphia employees witnessed that last week when they were told they can keep their jobs. They all then chipped in and sent a box of cigars to Glenn Britt instead of the "Fuck U" t-shirt they originally wanted to send. Another large group of Adelphia employees in Coudersport have been notified that they'll be able to keep their jobs once Time Warner Cable takes over the local facilities this summer. About 200 employees in a set of modular offices along Vine Street, known as the Sales & Marketing Advanced Retention Team - or SMART - received the good news last week.Time Warner previously agreed to hire another large Adelphia employee group, the Advanced Products Customer Center - formerly the Tennis Center - and is making job offers to other Adelphia employees scattered across the company's Coudersport worksites. Poor bastards were probably getting ready to cancel their summer vacation plans. read...

Les Today: Love boat Les and the shock jock kill the beef, for now

Howard Stern and his former boss Les "Love Boat" Moonves have reached a settlement on their feud. We all knew this would have been settled without a long drawn out show in court. And like we said Howard Stern would have probably let the cat out of the bag on Moonves on possible strong arm tactics he may have used in the past, and fluffing numbers for advertisers. A little far fetched? Nah, not with all the Enrons and Tycos. If you remember CBS Les Moonves had sued Stern in February, claiming he improperly used CBS air time to promote his new show on Sirius Satellite Radio, which began in January. According to the AP, CBS also said Stern made plans with Sirius without disclosing them to CBS, as his contract required. In March, Stern went on CBS's Late Show with David Letterman and blasted network head Les Moonves. "I believe you are working for one of the biggest jerks on the planet," Stern, wearing an "I Hate Less Moonves" T-shirt, told Letterman. "Les Moonves is a bully." In reference to Moonves's early acting career, Stern added, "CBS took a C-list actor from The Love Boat and made him CEO." Ohhhhhhhhh thats a low blow Howard. You just had to bring up the Love Boat thing huh?? read...

Media's known, knowns, and known Unknowns

Details mag compiled a list called "Media Mavericks" which includes some known names and some names that will make you say Hmmmmmmm??? The result is an eclectic list of people who reportedly have one thing in common: They are all self-starters who defied conventional wisdom. They range from YouTube CEO Chad Hurley to silver-haired CNN anchor Anderson Cooper to MTV Entertainment President Brian Graden. And Ashton Kutcher of "That '70s Show" gets props for a deal to produce Web-only shows for AOL, despite producing box office bombs such as "The Butterfly Effect." But with the exception of a couple, most are names no one has heard of. Nick Grouf? Anyone? Ashton Kutcher?? Come on!! Read...

Morning Wire: If you can't beat one, join forces with another

Yahoo and eBay have both fallen to their knees in trying to one up the search & ad gods at Google. Both companies announced that they are joining forces in an effort to take a chunk of the ad pie Google has dominated for years. Its so funny that Yahoo boss Terry Semel has to now take drastic measures to compete with a company he almost bought years ago. Well lets see just how much of an impact the Yahoo! eBay union makes. It's officially the Meg and Terry Show. Yahoo! and eBay announced a strategic partnership Thursday to provide services to each others' customers.The deal, designed to boost their position against Microsoft Corp. and Web search leader Google Inc., underscores recent speculation the two companies could eventually merge.Under terms of the deal, Yahoo will become the exclusive third-party provider of all graphical ads throughout the eBay site, and sponsored search for complementary products on some eBay search results pages in the United States. In addition, eBay's online payment service PayPal will become the exclusive third-party provider of its online wallet. Sounds like Yahoo and eBay are putting the pedal to the metal on this one. read...

Tom Freston takes the stage, but an "R" rating for films with smoking in it?

Viacom CEO Tom "Tommy boy" Freston with old man Redstone in tow took the stage at the company's first shareholder meeting since the divorce from it's less glitzy partner CBS. Mr. Freston shared his plans for the company with his shareholders outlining how he plans to push Viacom deeper into the belly of the web beast. But no shareholder meeting would be shareholder meeting without a group of investors pushing for certain changes but this one takes the cake for us. Catherine Rowan, a consultant advising a Catholic congregation that owns Viacom shares, called on Freston to give any movies produced by Viacom an "R" rating if they depict smoking. Freston said that Viacom was working together with other studio owners and the Motion Picture Association of America to address the issue, and noted that any films produced by Viacom's Nickelodeon unit do not depict smoking. read...

Time Warner's brass smiles for the cameras in company profile

TimeWarner's 2006 company profile is a full interactive and colorful experience. Dick Parsons and his deputy Jeff Bewkes makes very bold and probably true statements during the introduction. The show then goes on with filmed statements from all the company's business heads like Time Inc's Anne Moore, AOL's Jon Miller and others. We watched the thing about 5 times and we still can't get enough of it. view it

Morning Wire: Eisner still won't let Iger shine

Disposed Disney boss Mike Eisner still has a lot of hurt in him. During a recent taping of his embattled talk show on CNBC "Conversations With Michael Eisner" the former micro manager interview current Disney boss Bob Iger and took some jabs at him during the process. We always knew Eisner would have seduced Iger into coming on his show so he can scold him about the Pixar deal. In some way Eisner even tried to indirectly take credit for the current pixar deal even though he called it expensive and a big bet. As usual he is supposed to be interviewing someone but he ends up talking about himself. "Everybody thinks I had a strained relationship with Steve Jobs,quite the opposite. I made the original Pixar deal, I made the second Pixar deal. My issue with Steve Jobs was about money." Ok he may have brought in Pixar but at the end of the day it was Iger who brought them in full fold. read...

Les Today: CBS' one upper CEO gets a Rocking roast

Our favorite one upper Les Moonves got roasted by comedian Chris Rock who says Les Moonves is a micro, micro, micro manager. Hey the guy wants to make sure that shit is getting done his way and only his way. Chris Rock said it was Moonves who picked the young actor who portrays the comic as a boy in the UPN sitcom "Everybody Hates Chris," vetoing the person who had been first choice. "Les said, `I know how to pick black kids,"' the 41-year-old actor-comedian said. "He's picking them for Angelina Jolie now." Wow Leslie must really have some serious time on his hands. We bet Tom Freston isn't picking who makes guest appearances on MTV's "Wildin Out" read....

Viacom's CFO reveals the company's sweet spot

Viacom CFO Mike Dolan (no relation to the Dolans of Cablevision, we think) says that Viacom has a plan for rapid growth but Western Europe isn't included. Viacom wants to leave their footprints all over the world and they plan to do that by throwing Sumner's cash at cash hungry entrepreneurs. And now Quotes By Mike Dolan: "I don't think we can get from where we are to where we want to be simply by greenfielding it, In most places we want to be that will mean acquisitions." "The international market will likely remain a general entertainment market, a very specific, targeted demographic is one that may be really tough to implement." "The sweet spot for us is digital acquisitions," Wonder what Les Moonves' plans are for his half? read....

Crain's New York Business reminds us of something we have been posting about for the last month or so

New York Business' Amanda Fung is the latest journalist to write her own version about big media companies snapping up internet start ups. The story never changes only the publication and the person reporting. So why do we keep getting the same story every week? Ok Newscorp dropped a load for Myspace.com, MTV dropped cash for Xfire, The New York Times Co. paid $410 million for About.com. Ok we get it, there is a trend among the big media firms. And yes we know The biggest media deal so far this year was NBC Universal's $600 million purchase of iVillage. Give it up for NYB folks for breaking an already broken story. We are so sure you read a version of this already that we won't even link to it.

There are no limits to what Bertelsmann will do to remain private

Bertelsmann AG, the German Media giant is so afraid of going public they are now rumored to planning a buyout of Groupe Bruxelles Lambert the minority shareholder who is pushing for an IPO. Bertelsmann said it will "fulfill its contractual obligations and prepare the listing of shares held by GBL," if requested, but it added: "Bertelsmann is also prepared for a buyback of GBL's stake at a reasonable price, if the shareholders reach an agreement." Bertelsmann said its managers and majority shareholders the Mohn family were "unanimously of the opinion that in the case of such a repurchase, Bertelsmann would be able to continue to invest in its businesses and maintain its solid financial standing." read...

Morning Wire: Swedes buy their way into U.S. mag market

Bonnier Magazine Group is about to drop between $80-90 Million for a 49% stake in U.S. based World Publications. With all the closings and job cuts currently hanging over the mag industry we are kinda shocked to see that companies outside the U.S. want in and in a big way. Never the less World CEO Tony Snow is all smiles now that he will have a war chest full of green to grow his company via acquisitions or the internet. In Europe, Bonnier owns lifestyle and cooking magazines centered primarily in the Nordic countries, plus TV stations, book publishers and the German rights to mega-bestseller Harry Potter. Last year, the company, which has operations from Spain to Australia, had revenue of about $2.8 billion and net profit of around $350 million. read....

Morning Wire: Getting to know William Dean Singleton

The New York Times has an interesting piece on MediaNews chieftain William Dean Singleton. The man seems to be the Richard Branson of the newspaper industry. He is the man who is buying Gannett and spent $1 Billion on four of Knight Ridder's dailies. Mr. Singleton, 54, a bantam figure with flinty blue eyes, is indeed thought of as something of a magician in the newspaper world having transformed himself from the son of a ranch hand in a tiny town in Texas to a media baron who now controls a newspaper empire that sprawls from coast to coast. He has, in a manner of speaking, sawed many of his competitors in half, only to have them hop off the table and become his partners. His company, the privately held MediaNews based in Denver, owns 55 dailies including The Denver Post, The Detroit News, The Daily News of Los Angeles and The Berkshire Eagle, plus more than 100 nondailies. With the addition of the Knight Ridder papers The San Jose Mercury News, The Contra Costa Times and The Monterey County Herald, all in California, and The St. Paul Pioneer Press MediaNews has become the nation's fourth-biggest newspaper company, up from seventh. read....

Will selling off the AOL unit really help Time Warner's stock price?

Many analyst and even some shareholders have been suggesting that Dick Parsons spin off AOL to help boost the company's stock price which has been stuck in and around $17-$18. This week an analyst said that no one is buying TW stock because AOL is still part of the company. So why in the world is Dick Parsons keeping AOL in the Time Warner fold?. He insists they will turn the company around but he has been saying that for the past 2 years. Here is how the man said they will accomplish the turn around: "We are committed to completing the transformation of AOL. AOL is in a space that the marketplace thinks is contracting and needs to migrate its business to another part of the Internet landscape where the market is growing. Our plans are to see that journey through. I think that if we do that, the market and the stock will react very positively". Sounds good as you say it, but will it actually work, and if it doesn't what other options are there? Dick Parsons needs to set some action items for AOL CEO Jon Miller and give him a deadline and an ultimatum. Either turn the company around by a set date or step down. related: CEO says Time Warner can turn AOL around

Ted Goes out, only the way Ted can

He may not have admitted it, but it was a sad day for Ted Turner. He officially stepped down as a Time Warner board member and walked away from the company he helped build over many years. Turner got hit the hardest when the worst merger in history went south but Mr. Turner had only kind words with a jab and a plug here and there of course. Chairman Richard Parsons read a pronouncement praising Turner’s accomplishments, then Mr. Turner took the stage, first thanking all of the people who helped to put together the five-minute video tribute. (so sarcastic, we love this man) the went on to state the following: “I have been with the company and its successors for 55 years now,I just wished that the last five years, I could have made a bigger contribution. I didn’t have that opportunity, unfortunately, but I hung in there as long as the company, I felt, needed me -- until the class-action lawsuits and the antitrust problems were resolved.” “I’ve done my best and, like Edward R. Murrow said in that great Warner Bros. movie that was just released a month ago, good night and good luck.” Classic Ted Turner. We could sure go for one of those Bison burgers right now. Read...

Dick Speaks

Time Warner Giant Richard Parsons chats it up and says Carl Icahn could be clueless when it comes to the media business: QUESTION: Time Warner's annual meeting could have been a real showdown if Carl Icahn had managed to get more support. Why didn't he? ANSWER: Our shareholders... have been with the company a long time. They understand its strengths, they understand the industry... I'm not sure that Carl really did. While I would be wrong to say there isn't a lot of frustration, the whole media sector right now is in a little bit of a malaise. No one who really has been around this space for any period of time believed that Carl had any answers that were novel or likely to result in the stock moving up. Q: For a while, Icahn was attacking the company, if not you, with great regularity. How did that affect your work? A: It was beginning to take serious management time because it was a diversion. We didn't need that. And, secondly, this kind of daily pillorying in the press can affect your employees. Everybody sort of decides to abandon the field of play and become a spectator. more....

Les Today: A Moonves medley

CBS's big eye Les Moonves likes it big. He announced at the CBS fall TV lineup presentation that his company will be unloading 35 small market stations at its CBS Radio unit. He claims the move is an effort to further focus CBS Radio in larger markets. read.... Did Les Moonves lose his mojo, or is he playing possum? And we thought he loved the media. read... Is Les really more. Is is more really Les? read.... Les Moonves knows how to pick black kids. read...

Stock up on your barf bags, Shock is almost here

Jack Kliger is proud of Shock the latest publication from Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S. and it sounds so disgusting, there is no doubt it will be a hit especially amongst males 15-30. But isn't the magazine which promises rotting human heads and a woman burning alive just Rotten.com in print? Anyway the Mike Hammer edited vomit teaser hits newsstands on May 30th and we can guarantee that at some point, a group of parents or even government reps will call for the mag to be pulled. read...

Conde Nast's Lipman, wants business with former colleague, and no the name of the new mag is not Conde Nast Business

Joanne Lipman the EIC for Conde Nast's yet to be named business magazine is looking to beef up her staff with some familiar faces. First on her list is James Stewart currently a contributor to David Remnick's New Yorker and pens a monthly column for the Hearst/Dow Jones-owned Smart Money. However Stewart like many who end up jumping ship anyway stated the following: "I think Joanne is great and very talented, but at the moment I don't have any plans about moving anywhere," Ms. Lipman isn't the only one with her eyes on the Stew. Businessweek tried to seduce Mr. Stewart to join their team as well but we guess the money wasn't right. read....

Morning Wire: VNU shareholder abandons fight against takeover bid

Knight Vinke Asset Management finally realized that money talks. The VNU shareholder which was campaigning against a takeover bid by a sea of investors said it backed off its campaign because the VNU board had $ in their eyes. A group of six private equity firms, including Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. and Carlyle Group, wants to buy and eventually delist VNU and has offered 29.50 euros for each share in the company in a bid that expires Friday. read...

Morning Wire: Vivendi says no to a Viacom

French media giant and the vacuum that sucked away the Bronfman family fortune Vivendi has rejected a break up proposal from a top shareholder. The board and top management believe the company is better off as is and you know what, maybe they're right. The company earned 707 million euros ($900 million) in the first quarter, up from 501 million euros a year earlier. Analysts surveyed by Dow Jones had expected net profit of 561 million euros ($714 million). Vivendi said it expected adjusted net profit to grow by 16 percent, to about 2.4 billion euros ($3.1 billion) this year, compared with a previous forecast of 11 to 13 percent. Adjusted net profit excludes charges like impairment of good will and income from discontinued operations. read....

Tom Freston spreads the love whenever he wants, wherever he wants

Viacom boss Tom Freston seems to always be in a giving mood. We cam across a laundry list of things Mr. Freston has spread some green on and we gotta say, the total is more than a lot of make in a year or even two. Oh yeah if Tom's party of choice was a secret then this totally blew it. He donated $3,750 to the republican party and $43,800 to the democratic party. But wait, now that we think of it, his total in donations is probably one donation made by lets say Rupert Murdoch. >>Toms contribution run down