Behind the scenes at Viacom are some influential people who have a lot of power in deciding what goes on at Viacom. Sumner M. Redstone is the founder of Viacom and, as of January 1, 2006, is the Executive Chairman of the Board at Viacom. He and two others make up the senior management at Viacom. Phillippe P. Dauman is the president and Chief Executive Officer, while Thomas E. Dooley holds the titles of Senior Executive Vice President, Chief Administrative Officer, and Chief Financial Officer. Under the jurisdiction of these three men and around 9,500 employees, Viacom was able to earn revenue of $9.61 billion in 2005. As of 2005, their net income was upwards of $1.25 billion, which easily places Viacom in the top ten of media conglomerates (the 2006 earnings will not be made public until March 1, 2007).
In 1971, Sumner Redstone and others helped to make Viacom a separate and public company after splitting from CBS (Columbia Broadcasting Company). “The newly formed Viacom yesterday reported net earnings of $129.5 million for the quarter down, from $393 million for the period a year earlier, due to poor box-office results. For the full year, Viacom reported net earnings of $1.2 billion, flat with 2004's performance.” (Atkinson). Over the two year period of 1985 and 1986, Viacom bought out MTV Networks and gained control over the many smaller stations included in the company. A few years later, in 1994, Viacom completed a $9.9 billion merger with Paramount Communications Inc. In 1999 Viacom finally started trading publicly on the New York Stock Exchange. The very next year they completed a $39.8 billion merger with CBS (Columbia Broadcasting System). Over the next few years, until 2004, Viacom acquired several other interests such as Comedy Central, The College Television Network, BET, and Nickelodeon’s Noggin. In 2005, Viacom underwent a major division when it split into two separate companies, Viacom Inc. and CBS Corporation. Since then Viacom Inc. has acquired several more acquisitions under Paramount, MTV Networks, and others. However, very recently, Viacom announced its new partnership with the new online television network, Joost, as well as its recent buyout of the popular video site YouTube (Viacom). Joost is a fairly new concept that will allow Viacom to distribute many of its television shows online. This program allows users access to a wide variety of programming and brands and will be available world-wide, as it is an online broadcasting network. Viacom hopes that by being a part of this partnership early on, hopefully they will have a head start to a new online trend. Their acquisition of YouTube had been met with doubt early on, however, even after pulling off hundreds of homemade videos, the site continues to flourish. These partnerships and acquisitions are part of what make Viacom and other media conglomerate such powerful forces in the industry today.
As of 2005, Viacom has been very successful in the media business as it continues to have revenue upwards of $9 billion. Many people today would most likely be alarmed at the fact that conglomerates such as Viacom can grow so quickly and so large. While the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) does exert some control over major media corporations, it is simple for these conglomerates to gain control of a large part of certain industries. Today, it is common practice for one company to have holdings in multiple, billion-dollar-a-year industries. It has been said that by allowing these companies to gain control over so much of our media, we are giving them too much control over what we see and as a result, our culture has become very homogenized. I think that globally, this is very true, as the American culture as in recent decades become more of the global culture. Our media corporations have become so widespread and powerful that they are able to reach places we never thought possible. While there are many downfalls to having fewer companies, with more control, it also allows us to consolidate the globe. People around the world are able to experience the same type of media that we have because media has become a global necessity. Many say that this homogenization of cultures is creating problems amongst the world, as foreign countries decide too late that they want to try to preserve their culture instead of adopting the American lifestyle. I think it is important for everyone to realize the positive and negative aspects of these global corporations, yet in the long run, we will most likely end up with a global culture if things keep going at the same pace. It is important for us to keep the earth’s diversity alive, even if it means we need to get the government to step in create stricter regulations for the FCC.
The widespread reach of these conglomerates means that they are able to reach many different areas. They are also able to promote themselves through the use of their own brands. For example, Viacom will often promote Paramount movies that are coming out on its television stations. Also, it is easy for it to control much of the music industry, as it has control of an influential station, MTV. Using MTV they are easily able to promote artists whose CD’s have come out on their label and movies that are recently coming to theaters. “As a brand, MTV has been beyond durable, managing to reinvent itself continuously and in doing so presenting a fast-moving target that left many would-be rivals in its wake.” (Carr). It is important to remember that these brands are doing their absolute best to give to the public what they feel the public wants. It is commercialization at its strongest, as media companies use their own brands to promote other brands that they own in order to show us what they think we should be watching. Our world is being driven in a high-functioning complex relationship with the media and society. We listen to what they tell us and they thrive off the fact that we continue to consume the same homogenous material that they give to us.
Works Cited
Atkinson, Claire and Abbey Klaassen. Divided Viacom and CBS Off To a Slow Start. Advertising Age. February 20, 2007. February 23, 2006. <http://adage.com/digital/article.php?article_id=48630>
Viacom. February 20, 2007. Viacom Inc. February 20, 2007. <www.viacom.com>
Carr, David. “Do They Still Want Their MTV?” The New York Times. February 19, 2007. Page B1.
