Paramount

NEW YORK -- One of Wall Street's longest takeover battles ended yesterday in a crescendo of anger, disbelief and disappointment. And that was on the winning side.Officially, Viacom Inc. sounded a triumphant note after being declared the official winner of the $10 billion Paramount Communications Inc. sweepstakes. Paramount shareholders voted overwhelmingly to sell their shares to Viacom, which had offered a combination of cash and stocks worth $9.8 billion.The loser was QVC Inc., which had tried over the past five months to horn in on the arranged marriage between Viacom and Paramount.

Last month, a Republican-aligned polling firm called on hunters and fishermen nationwide to get their views. Some of the results were unsurprising: Outdoorsmen regard themselves as politically conservative and register Republican over Democratic by a more than 2-to-1 ratio. But here's one response that may have caught President Barack Obama and his re-election team by surprise, if they noticed it at all: A majority of these sportsmen believe global warming is the cause of this past summer's high temperatures and want the White House and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to limit carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions.

Is there such a thing as corporate shame? The executives who run Kings Dominion -- which is owned by Paramount, which is owned by Viacom, which is a multibillion-dollar communications and entertainment conglomerate -- know how to make money, but do they know how to make things right? Do they have a sense of justice and decency?I come to these tall questions this week because of what happened to two of Paramount's customers -- a 46-year-old day care provider from Baltimore and a 25-year-old college student from Prince George's County -- on a Saturday in May 1994.

For a growing audience of web-savvy shoppers, it's vital for a business to have an online presence. That's part of the philosophy behind meetlocalbiz.com, a website launched in the summer of 2011 that spotlights Howard County businesses and offers weekly deals. Todd Sachs, a Highland resident with real estate experience, and Joann Francavilla, an Ellicott City resident who serves as a consultant for nonprofits and previously owned a local bakery, combined their backgrounds in business to develop the web venture.

WILMINGTON, Del. -- In a sweeping victory for QVC Network Inc., the Delaware Supreme Court said yesterday that Paramount Communications Inc. had not been fair to its shareholders when it accepted a takeover offer from Viacom Inc. while blocking a higher bid from QVC.The state's highest court, which handed down its 11-page order only hours after hearing the case, upheld a lower court's decision that struck down a defensive tactic by Paramount that would have...

NEW YORK -- After weeks of haggling, lawyers for Paramount Communications and QVC Network Inc. met yesterday morning to discuss QVC's bid for Paramount.It was the first time representatives for the two sides had met officially since QVC commenced a hostile $9.6 billion bid that was roughly comparable to a friendly merger proposal from Viacom Inc.But by all accounts, the two sides were no closer to a rapprochement by the end of the day. In fact, neither Paramount's chairman, Martin S. Davis, or QVC's chairman, Barry Diller, bothered to attend.

Who will successfully launch TV's fifth network: Warner Bros. or Paramount?Conventional wisdom among broadcasters is that there's enough potential national advertising revenue to support a fifth network, but not a sixth. Experts also doubt if there are enough non-aligned TV stations to give both proposed networks the nationwide coverage they need to create a network.Both Paramount and Warner Bros. claim they'll need to sign up enough affiliates to cover a minimum of 70 percent of the nation's TV markets to give national advertisers the audience guarantees they'll demand.

NEW YORK -- In what could be the final chapter in a long-running and nasty corporate takeover fight, the board of Paramount Communications Inc. agreed yesterday to merge with the partner it had resisted for months: QVC Network Inc.The endorsement of the $10.2 billion takeover offer was particularly bitter medicine for Paramount's chairman, Martin S. Davis, 64, who since September had led his board in rejecting QVC in favor of a friendly bid from Viacom Inc.The...

NEW YORK -- The sparring among Paramount Communications Inc. and its rival suitors, Viacom Inc. and QVC Network Inc., heightened yesterday, raising the prospect that the five-month takeover battle will limp past its scheduled Tuesday finale.QVC, responding to "grave concerns" expressed by Paramount about its behavior, told the media and entertainment company it is complying with the auction procedures, which prohibit new bids before Tuesday.At the same time, QVC stated that it was free to amend its bid if neither side gets a majority of Paramount shares by the expiration of tender offers at midnight Monday.

NEW YORK -- Call it the power of a misleading headline. Or blame it on the desire of money managers to get home at a decent hour on Friday night.But whatever the reason, the great takeover war for Paramount Communications will drag on for two more weeks, despite the fact Viacom decided not to come up with an offer that was better than the one QVC Network had made.How could that be? The headline that hit the tape late Friday afternoon talked of an offer of $105 a share in cash for control of Paramount.

It shouldn't really come as a surprise that Dan Dierdorf, a former offensive tackle for the St. Louis Cardinals, thinks the Ravens need to return to running the football. The CBS Sports NFL analyst makes a convincing case, arguing that the run keeps the Ravens defense refreshed while standing on the sideline and alleviates some of the pressure on quarterback Joe Flacco. “And this is the time of the year as we move into late November and December and the playoffs where being able to run the football isn't just a luxury,” said Dierdorf, who will be calling Sunday's game against the Cincinnati Bengals with Greg Gumbel.

My husband and I bought a house before we bought wedding rings. My parents cheerfully lent us the down payment, and my father was never more proud of me. His own employment stumble — his annual bonus disappeared — caused him to lose his own home and forced him to rent, a terrible humiliation for my middle-class family. As my own children grew, I was determined to return my father's favor and help them get a toehold in the real estate market. Paying rent is like throwing money away, I told them.

As a community foundation that pursues its goals through grant-making, initiatives and advocacy, the Baltimore Community Foundation applauds Aaron Dorman's call for philanthropies to engage in advocacy ( "Smarter grant-making," Dec. 21), but we recognize as well the even more pressing imperative of loyalty to donor intent. At the Baltimore Community Foundation advocacy is important, but donor intent is sacred. Mr. Dorman holds up the Annie E. Casey Foundation as a paragon while suggesting that the Weinberg Foundation is lagging in its civic duty by not engaging in advocacy.

Sticks and stones will break my bones, but names will never hurt me? Baloney! Social scientists, along with those invested in the field of mental health, have determined through respected documentation that verbal battering is no less harmful in its literal destruction of the mind as is physical abuse to the body. So there you go on the editorial page, defending Pastor Fred Phelps' right to express his organization's venomous tirades, even at the funerals of our military sons and daughters, clearly orchestrated to do irreparable harm ("Free speech is paramount," March 13)

Tina Fey continues popular portrayal of Sarah Palin NEW YORK: It's starting to feel like Tina Fey is running for vice president. Fey again returned to Saturday Night Live to play Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin as the sketch comedy show continued to pull out all the stops in its election year season. Queen Latifah dropped by to portray Thursday's debate moderator, PBS's Gwen Ifill, and cast member Jason Sudeikis stepped into the role of Democratic vice presidential candidate Joe Biden.

TELEVISION 1.NBA Finals, Game 5, ABC 2.NBA Finals, Game 3, ABC 3.NBA Finals, Game 4, ABC 4.Two and a Half Men, CBS 5.NCIS, CBS FILMS 1.The Incredible Hulk, Universal 2.Kung Fu Panda, DreamWorks 3.The Happening, Fox 4.You Don't Mess With the Zohan, Sony 5.Indiana Jones and ... the Crystal Skull, Paramount SINGLES 1.Lollipop, Lil' Wayne 2.Viva La Vida, Coldplay 3.Bleeding Love, Leona Lewis 4.I Kissed a Girl, Katy Perry 5.Take a Bow, Rihanna...

NEW YORK -- Paramount Communications Inc.'s board, faulted in court for its handling of QVC Network Inc.'s takeover offer, probably will convene a committee of independent directors to weigh competing bids, investment bankers and traders said yesterday."

WILMINGTON, Del. -- Unbeknown to shareholders, Paramount Communications Inc. turned down a bid from Viacom Inc. in early July that was in some ways better than the one it accepted in September, a lawyer for a competing bidder said yesterday.The disclosure was made by Herbert Wachtel of the Wachtel, Lipton, Rosen & Katz law firm, which is representing QVC Network Inc. in its case against Paramount in Delaware Chancery Court. QVC Network is arguing that Paramount illegally spurned its $10.6 billion bid in favor of a less attractive takeover offer from Viacom Inc.At the chancery court hearing yesterday, QVC's lawyers argued that Paramount had put itself up for sale when it agreed to a deal with Viacom and that its directors had breached their obligations by not considering QVC's offer.