Viacom

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- H. Wayne Huizenga's dream of a sports and entertainment complex on the edge of the Everglades has died, the victim of his decision to sell Blockbuster Entertainment earlier this year.The company that bought Blockbuster in September for $8 billion decided this week to kill the mega-development known as Blockbuster Park.Blockbuster's parent company, Viacom Inc., didn't want to build the project -- not in the way Blockbuster and Mr. Huizenga did."There are only so many things one company can do," Mr. Huizenga said.

II'VE BEEN following the stock of Viacom Inc. lately. What is the outlook for this company? -- C.L., via the Internet Despite more plot twists in its executive ranks than an episode of its hit CBS television series CSI, this remains an impressive and diversified entertainment company that's loaded with cash. Its famous brand names include CBS, MTV, VH1, BET, UPN, Nickelodeon, Infinity Broadcasting and Paramount Pictures. It also owns 81 percent of video-rental retailer Blockbuster, which it hopes to spin off this year.

On Jan. 3, Sumner M. Redstone will get his wish when Viacom, the sprawling media company he built, is split into two separate entities. Now what? Even before the separation, the two companies - Viacom, which includes Paramount and cable networks such as MTV and Nickelodeon, and will be led by Thomas E. Freston; and CBS, encompassing the CBS network, television and radio stations, Simon & Schuster and an outdoor advertising business, to be run by Leslie...

Armed with a fresh cash infusion from BellSouth Corp., QVC Network Inc. increased its hostile bid for Paramount Communications Inc. yesterday to $90 a share in cash and stock based on Thursday's closing price.That gives QVC the edge in its vicious bidding war with Viacom Inc., Paramount's hand-picked merger partner.QVC has raised the cash component of its bid to $5.5 billion, a 15 percent increase from the previous offer of $4.8 billion. Viacom has promised investors $5.1 billion in cash.

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.

NEW YORK -- Viacom Inc. said yesterday that it has scaled back the number of Blockbuster video stores it plans to open this year to 600 from 800, prompting speculation that the company may be considering spinning off the struggling video retailer.Viacom said it cut back on store construction to reduce its debt, which totals about $9.5 billion in bonds, commercial paper and bank loans.Viacom also owns Paramount Pictures and television networks, including MTV.While Viacom has said it hopes to boost its earnings and share price by trimming its debt, the company's must ultimately move toward spinning off Blockbuster if the stock is to return to its former heights, analysts said.

Mel Karmazin, the one-time radio ad salesman who rose to the top of CBS but struggled for power with Viacom Chairman Sumner Redstone, resigned yesterday as president and chief operating officer after a frequently tense four years. To replace Karmazin and to calm Wall Street jitters, Viacom named MTV Networks chief executive Tom Freston and CBS chief executive Leslie Moonves as co-presidents and co-chief operating officers. Redstone, 81, said it is "extremely likely that one of them will be my successor" as CEO, possibly in three years.

In what would be the biggest media merger since Time married Warner four years ago, Paramount Communications and Viacom Inc. might announce a deal as early as this weekend, industry executives familiar with the negotiations said yesterday.While each company is already a power in its own right, their merger would create a more viable force on a field increasingly ruled by giants like Time Warner, Sony and Capital Cities/ABC.The deal, in which the executives said Viacom would acquire fTC Paramount for roughly $6.2 billion in stock and $1 billion in cash, would create one of the most powerful media companies in the country with a vast array of assets.

The notion of the Internet as a free ride, a place in cyberspace where almost anything is available for nothing, might at last be put to a real test. After weeks of fruitless negotiations, the media conglomerate Viacom - owner of MTV, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central and Paramount Pictures - sued Google and its wildly popular video-sharing site YouTube yesterday for what it claims is copyright infringement. Viacom, which is seeking $1 billion in damages, said in its suit that YouTube has benefited from what it called "massive intentional" violations of copyrights of Viacom-owned videos.

NEW YORK -- The bidding war for Paramount Communications Inc. intensified yesterday, as the contestants dug in their heels.Spurning telephone companies' offers to aid its bid, Viacom Inc. said yesterday that it preferred to go it alone in pursuing the deal it reached to acquire Paramount last week.In an interview, Frank J. Biondi Jr., Viacom's chief executive and president, said his company was not looking for partners that could help it sweeten its bid, which is now valued at $7.4 billion.