Viacom

Washington -- Where, oh, where is President Clinton going to go with affirmative action?A new policy recommendation from the Federal Communications Commission offers some important clues.The FCC and the president are in a similar quandary. Sen. Robert Dole, R-Kan., and other leading Republican presidential candidates say they oppose affirmative-action policies. Californians are passing petitions to put an anti-affirmative-action referendum on that state's ballot next year, much to the delight of Republicans who hope it will bring lots of anti-Clinton voters to the polls.

WASHINGTON -- The House Ways and Means Committee approved a bill last night that would repeal a tax break for minority-owned media companies, a move that could kill Viacom Inc.'s plan to sell its cable television systems for $2.3 billion while avoiding hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes.The bill, which was approved on a voice vote and was supported by House Republican leaders, is part of a broader Republican effort to end government programs that offer preferences to women and members of minorities.

Viacom to sell cable systemsViacom Inc. reached a definitive agreement yesterday to sell its cable TV systems for about $2.3 billion to a group led by a black entrepreneur.The two sides said Viacom would receive $1.6 billion to $1.7 billion in cash for the cable systems, which have 1.1 million subscribers, and a secured note for $600 million.Moreover, the deal will provide Viacom with significant federal tax benefits, since the acquiring group, RCS LP, is 21 percent owned by general partner Frank Washington, a black entrepreneur.

Viacom cable sale nearViacom Inc. is close to announcing the sale of its cable systems to a group that includes Tele-Communications Inc. for more than $2 billion, people close to the talks said yesterday.The deal for the systems could include $2 billion of cash as well as Tele-Communications stock, one person familiar with the discussions said. Viacom officials could not be reached for comment, and executives of Tele-Communications declined to comment.Viacom is selling cable systems with 1.1 million subscribers, primarily in San Francisco, Seattle, Nashville and Dayton, Ohio, to a smaller cable operator, RCS Pacific.

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.

Viacom cable sale expectedViacom Inc. Chairman Sumner Redstone said yesterday that the company expects to sell its cable systems to InterMedia Partners L.P., a group led by Tele-Communications Inc., and that it won't seek to purchase a television network.The sale, which Mr. Redstone estimated would bring in more than $2 billion, would help reduce the $9 billion debt Viacom took on in its buyout of Paramount Communications Inc.Guilford Pharmaceuticals lossGuilford Pharmaceuticals Inc., reporting its first full quarterly results as a public company, announced yesterday it lost $1.39 million, or 36 cents a share, on interest income of $163,000 in the three months that ended Sept.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Is the merger between Blockbuster Entertainment and Viacom Inc. on again?Wall Street analysts have been talking about that possibility for weeks. Blockbuster Chairman Wayne Huizenga fueled speculation this week in a brief aside to a Miami Herald reporter."It looks like the Viacom deal is going to go through," Mr. Huizenga said.But yesterday, the company lips were sealed."The company has no comment at this time on the status of the transaction," said Senior Vice President and General Counsel Thomas Hawkins, who expressed disbelief over Mr. Huizenga's remark.

U.S., Japan pursue trade talksEfforts to revive stalled trade negotiations between the United States and Japan were extended into the weekend, but neither side was giving hints about how close the two countries were.New Japanese Prime Minister Tsutomu Hata dispatched a high-level delegation to Washington to find a way to resume trade talks that have been stalemated since Feb. 11.The negotiations, known as "framework" talks, were designed to open Japan's markets in a number of sectors to American goods as a way of narrowing a record $59 billion trade gap.BGE raises dividend to 38Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. yesterday raised its quarterly dividend by 1 cent, to 38 cents a share.

Blockbuster, Viacom deal shakyIn the strongest sign to date of a breakdown in the merger agreement between Viacom Inc. and Blockbuster Entertainment Corp., the chairman of Blockbuster, H. Wayne Huizenga, sent a letter to his shareholders yesterday saying there "could be no assurance the board could recommend a transaction" with Viacom.Mr. Huizenga's letter said that while the combination still offers "an excellent strategic opportunity," the price has fallen 35 percent and may no longer be right.

NEW YORK -- Tele-Communications Inc. is negotiating to purchase Viacom Inc.'s cable television systems for about $2.2 billion, according to investment bankers on both sides of the transaction.The purchase would be one of the largest cable television system transactions in years, and the first big sale in the industry since the Federal Communications Commission in February ordered cable operators to lower their rates.A TCI-Viacom transaction would also patch up the bitter rivalry between two industry heavyweights: Viacom Chairman Sumner M. Redstone and TCI Chief Executive John C. Malone.