Was Freston Viacom's fall guy?

Brian White — Thu, 07 Sep 2006 10:30:00 EST

Filed under: Rumors, Insiders, Industry, Internet, Time Warner (TWX), Employees

With this week's news that Tom Freston, CEO of media giant Viacom, was going to no longer be with the company (read: pushed out/fired), one has to wonder why this happened. With such a media competitive circus going on with Viacom and strong competitors like Time Warner and Sony, was Viacom stock so saggy that Sumner Redstone felt compelled to push out an industry veteran like Freston, or was there more to it?

Redstone said less than a month ago that he was pleased with Freston's performance. Not a month later, Freston is basically fired. Hmm, something does not add up here. Let's look at Viacom's share appreciation for the last six months: March 8th saw VIA.B. shares at $38.05, July 17th say a drop to $33.10 and Viacom shares closed yesterday at $34.10.

But last Decemeber VIA.B shares stood at $44.90. The stock has fallen in the area of 24% over the last 10 months. Ah-ha, the picture is becoming clearer, but Freston has presided over stock declines before, right? Remember, Viacom split itself into two companies and stock tickers last January, which muddies the picture.

So what was in Redstone's pipe when he said this a month ago: "I, for one, am very encouraged by the progress we have made financially and operationally, particularly in moving our powerful brands to promising new platforms. The way Tom and I look at it, at least for the time being, we like the company exactly as it is." Something must have been brewing under the covers here. This move is a surprise to everyone, that is for sure. Or, is it? Would Viacom losing MySpace to News Corp. have anything to do with Freston getting canned? Inquiring minds want to know, now.

Was Freston Viacom's fall guy? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 07 Sep 2006 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Viacom CEO resigns, industry veteran named as successor

Brian White — Tue, 05 Sep 2006 08:35:00 EST

Filed under: Before the Bell, Press Releases, Management, Insiders, Internet, Time Warner (TWX), Employees

Sumner Redstone's had a little upheaval in recent weeks. First, he had to *fire* megastar Tom Cruise from Paramount Studios since the movie star's recent antics and erratic public behavior has made him a little less appealing to major studios. Although Cruise's agency says the star *fired* Paramount, everyone has super-inflated egos to protect.

Now, Redstone's lost the CEO of the company he chairs, Viacom. Former CEO Tom Freston -- one of the founders of MTV -- has resigned as of today, according to Viacom. He has been replaced already by industry veteran Philippe Dauman, who has held various executive positions as Viacom in recent years, and who heads up DND Capital Partners, LLC, a media and entertainment investment firm. No word on the specific reasons why (yet), but at 60, perhaps Freston just felt it was time.

Along with Dauman, Viacom also named Thomas E. Dooley to the newly created position of senior executive vice president and chief administrative officer. Dooley also co-heads the DND Capital Partners firm with Dauman, so this pair of executives should be able to aptly take the reigns of Viacom, which owns various media properties like MTV, VH1, Comedy Central and the Paramount movie studio, and competes with industry giants like Sony and Time Warner, among others.

Viacom CEO resigns, industry veteran named as successor originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 05 Sep 2006 08:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments