Page 60 - Forbes - USA (October 2019)

til Moonves would lead the combined companies. SEEKING VALUE
Bakish didn’t wait for that to happen. He shook up
THE MERGER OF VIACOM AND CBS WILL GIVE THE MEDIA COMPANY
the executive ranks, recruited high-profile industry
MORE HEFT AND GREATER SPENDING POWER, BUT IT HAS A LONG
executives to lead the Paramount and Nickelodeon
WAY TO GO TO CATCH UP TO ITS BULKED UP COMPETITORS.
units, invested in developing content for social me-
dia and, most critically, acquired the free, ad-sup- $50 Bil 100 150 200 250
ported video service Pluto TV to give Viacom a foot- AT&T $276 Bil
(TIME WARNER) $171 Bil
hold in the streaming world. Pluto TV now boasts
56 18 million regular users. WALT DISNEY $238 Bil
“Where have you been?” Redstone recalls ask- $59 Bil
ing Bakish after he presented his plans for the
E COMCAST $210 Bil
N business unit to the board. She was particular- $95 Bil
O ly struck by his digital strategy, which was more
T
S evolved than in the U.S. business. NETFLIX $115 Bil
D $16 Bil MARKET CAP
E “I specifically decided that the board is impor-
R $26 Bil REVENUE
tant, has valuable perspective, and therefore I VIACOM
I
R want to engage with them,” Bakish says, adding & CBS $27 Bil
A
H that Redstone “was a clear person that I thought
S
it was important to build a relationship with

E DUELING MOGULS
L based on transparency, trust and more.” Bakish’s
I
F management style and the gains at Viacom were A DECADE AGO, SUMNER REDSTONE USED CNBC TO WARN
O
R rewarded: He will lead ViacomCBS as president RUPERT MURDOCH THAT HIS MEDIA EMPIRE WAS “BURIED IN
P INK.” LAST YEAR, MURDOCH’S FORTUNE SOARED WHEN NEWS
and CEO once the merger is completed.
CORP. ANNOUNCED THAT IT WAS SELLING THE BULK OF HIS
Bakish and Redstone are bullish on the fu-
ENTERTAINMENT ASSETS TO WALT DISNEY FOR $71 BILLION.
ture. They argue that the combined companies’
global reach and production capacity, massive $20 Bil
film and TV library (140,000 television episodes, 19.1
18
3,600 film titles) and $13 billion in spending on NET WORTH
content (750 series on order) put it on a more 10 RUPERT MURDOCH
equal footing with rivals. That’s on par with the SUMNER REDSTONE 14.2
spending binge Netflix has used to seize the nar- 13.4
rative of the once insular and impenetrable in- 11.6 11.1 12
10
dustry, and eclipses reported figures for Amazon
9.4
or Apple. But even together, ViacomCBS will be
dwarfed in market value by traditional media ri- 7.4
vals like Disney or Warner Media parent AT&T or 5 6 6.2 5.8 6.5
5 4.7 5.1 4.8
Comcast, the cable giant whose holdings include 4.1 4.1 4.1
NBC and Universal Pictures. 2.8
2
Redstone’s emerging media venture invest-
ments, from YouTube creator network Maker- 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
Studios to podcast platform Wondery, inform
how she thinks of the family’s traditional media
business. She’s now looking to digital-savvy ex-
ecutives like Viacom’s digital studios chief Kel-
ly Day, who’s been developing original program- The question led her to fund ventures like
ming for YouTube, Facebook and Snapchat and, Niche, a startup that connected social media
before that, shows for Netflix, as a contemporary stars with advertisers and subsequently was ac-
role model for reaching audiences fragmented quired by Twitter, and Religion of Sports Me-
among multiple screens. “It’s the same vision my dia, a startup whose cofounders include Patri-
dad had in ’99, but it’s more true now than ever ots quarterback Tom Brady.
before,” she says. “When you take a look at these “My dad had a line, ‘Little failure, little success;
assets, they’re complementary.” big failure, big success.’ You have to take risks,”
She obsesses about ways to reach audienc- Shari Redstone says. “That’s what a venture fund
es beyond a linear broadcast. Her interest in is all about. How much risk do you take? So I say,
emerging media began with a question she we take risks, but we take it conservatively. But
posed at a Viacom board meeting to which she you have to take risks. You have to be willing to
never received a satisfactory answer: Who’s fail in order to succeed. And we’ve all failed. So,
watching the MTV reality show Jersey Shore? thank God there’s a value to it.” F

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