Viacom. Number three on the list, with 1997 revenues of just over $13 billion, is Viacom, Inc., headed by Sumner Redstone (born Murray Rothstein). Viacom was formed in 1971 as a way to dodge an anti-monopoly FCC ruling that required CBS to spin off a part of its cable TV operations and syndicated programming business. This move by the government unfortunately did nothing to reduce the mostly Jewish collaborative monopoly that remains the major problem with the industry. In 1999, after CBS had again augmented itself by buying King World Productions (a leading TV program syndicator), Viacom acquired its progenitor company, CBS, in a double mockery of the spirit of the 1971 ruling.
Viacom produces and distributes TV programs for the three largest networks, owns 13 television stations and 12 radio stations. It produces feature films through Paramount Pictures, headed by Jewess Sherry Lansing. Redstone acquired CBS following the December 1999 stockholders' votes at CBS and Viacom.
Working for Redstone as CBS's chief executive has been Melvin A. Karmazin. He has been the boss and biggest individual shareholder of the company that owns the CBS Television Network, 14 major-market TV stations, 160 radio stations, the Country Music Television and the Nashville Network cable channels, and a large number of outdoor advertising assets.
Viacom's publishing division includes Simon & Schuster, Scribner, The Free Press, Fireside, Archway Paperbacks and Minstrel Books, Anne Schwartz Books, MTV Books, Nickelodeon Books, Pocket Books, and Washington Square Press. It distributes videos through over 4,000 Blockbuster stores (including the Video Flicks chain in Australia ). It is also involved in satellite broadcasting, theme parks, and video games.
Viacom's chief claim to fame, however, is as the world's largest provider of cable programming, through its Showtime, MTV, Nickelodeon, and other networks. Since 1989 MTV and Nickelodeon have acquired larger and larger shares of the juvenile television audience. The first quarter of 2001 was the 16th consecutive quarter in which MTV was rated as the #1 cable network for viewers between the ages of 12 and 24. Redstone, who actually owns 76 per cent of the shares of Viacom, has offered Beavis and Butthead as teen role models. MTV Networks acquired The Music Factory (TMF) from the Dutch media and marketing group Wegener in 2001. TMF distributes music to almost 10 million homes in Holland and Belgium . MTV has been expanding its presence in Europe through new channels, including MTV Dance ( Britain ) and MTV Live ( Scandinavia ). MTV Italy is active through Cecchi Gori Communications. MTV pumps its rock and rap videos into 210 million homes in 71 countries.
Nickelodeon, with about 65 million subscribers, has by far the largest share of the four-to-11-year-old TV audience in America and also is expanding rapidly into Europe . Most of its shows do not yet display the blatant degeneracy that is MTV's trademark, but Redstone is gradually nudging the fare presented to his kiddie viewers toward the same poison purveyed by MTV. As of early 2001, Nickelodeon was continuing a nine-year streak as the top cable network for children and younger teenagers.
Viacom operates two major motion picture enterprises jointly with Vivendi Universal (detailed hereafter): United Cinemas International (UCI) and United International Pictures (UIP).
