http://www.reuters.com/news_article.jhtml?type=businessnews&StoryID=593386
Viacom Posts Loss Amid Ad Slump
February 13, 2002 09:04 AM ET
Excerpt
"Excluding a $67 million charge for job cuts at MTV Networks, Viacom's cable networks saw cash flow rise 15 percent, helped by cost cuts, despite a 4 percent decline in revenues."
So, MTVA died for strategic reasons, but it and other MTV employees' departures had the opposite short-term effect than was intended -- costing money.
As with the interent, it seems the business model of demographically targeted advertising is screwed for mass media -- everyone's ignoring it, seeking other channels. Time for a new model?
Like selling content direct for home video? Getting more ROI for stuff already in the can?
Can we think of anything MTV might have in the vaults that -- with the right kind of promotion -- would make them money? I want to have hope, but we all know how difficult it is to steer an aircraft carrier, and I wonder whether they'll see the potiential in time. Not that I care much about MTV's fiscal health -- obviously, I've got my own agenda.
At least it appears that Sumner Redstone finally sees Mel Karmasin as the destructive force that he is:
http://viacom.newstrove.com/
A day after Viacom Inc.'s board of directors ordered Chief Executive Sumner Redstone and second-in-command Mel Karmazin to reconcile their differences and work as a team,
Published in Los Angeles Times - Indexed on Feb 1, 2002
A day after Viacom Inc.'s board of directors ordered Chief Executive Sumner Redstone and second-in-command Mel Karmazin to reconcile their differences and work as a team, many company executives and money managers doubted the truce would hold. One source close to the company predicted that "Sumner will bite his thumb off in frustration" if he has to watch from the sidelines as Karmazin continues to run the company's daily operations. "It might be resolved for the short term, but [the dispute] is going to rear its ugly head again," said Richard Rubinstein, senior vice president at the Oppenheimer Funds, which owns Viacom shares.
Of course, the Board has asked them to play nice (same site) and the public face of it is all peaches and cream. And former MTVA are still on the dole.
Um