If Viacom and CBS were to merge it might make for an interesting result to say the least. There have been talks about it thus far and things seem to be moving in that direction, but nothing is concrete as of yet. CBS of course is a broadcast television station at its core while Viacom holds channels such as Nickelodeon and Comedy Central. The two companies split about a decade ago and are now rumored to be interested in merging again. Shari Redstone, the vice-chairwoman for both companies, is said to be leaning heavily in the direction of the merger, though no timeframe has been given just yet.
What it sounds like is that both companies, or perhaps Redstone, feels like a bigger footprint is necessary for both companies to thrive once again. She could be right but she could also be pushing for something that is becoming a trend among companies over the past couple of years if not longer. Mergers and acquisitions have been the order of the day lately, with Disney as the greatest example. I have to wonder just how long it’s going to keep going until there’s only a few companies that own the majority of the world’s entertainment industry. If that happens I tend to think that the companies might be able to up the charges for their networks and thus pass along those increased charges to viewers who will likely pay because of course we can’t live without our TV. That might be just paranoid talk though and I think I’ll slough it off as such.
Such a merger could have huge benefits however. It could increase the quality of programming since the many different channels and therefore programs would be under the supervision of a singular company, thereby instilling a standard of sorts that could be adhered to. Merging the two companies could make them stronger, not weaker and not less individualized. Having the head for big business is what tends to help in such discussions but what it sounds like now is that Redstone is on board with this idea, as are several others. One of the only impediments is that she needs to name as the person in charge of running the two companies. As of now CBS chairman Les Moonves is very interested in the position but so far Redstone has declined to name him to position. Her reasoning is that he’s been far too demanding and wants ownership stake in the merger, which is too much to consider for such a position. Moonves however has refuted these claims, stating that at no time did ever make such a demand.
The internal politics of such a merger seem like they would be a horrible mess to have to go through, as the in-fighting and wheeling and dealing would be enough to make a person’s head spin. I’m certain they’ll get it all sorted out, but until then there’s still no real idea when CBS and Viacom will exist under the same banner again.
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