He bought a national cable channel in Norway and a local station in Denmark. Scandinavian Broadcasting System was born with a $5-million investment by Sloan. It eventually grew to 16 TV stations, 21 premium pay channels and 11 radio networks in nine countries.
The company went public in 1993 and was sold in 2005 -- when its annual revenue topped $1.3 billion -- to two private equity firms: Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. and Permira.
But Sloan was frustrated that he could never break into the big European markets. "It was almost a great company," he said.
Returning to his roots
Back in Los Angeles, Sloan had become chairman of Lionsgate, an independent film and TV company SBS had invested in to supply content for its channels. Lionsgate's mission was to take on the giants by being more cost-efficient. During his tenure, Lionsgate produced films, but as chairman, Sloan had no operational role.
Sloan stepped down from Lionsgate's board, possibly sensing a chance to replicate that vision under the esteemed MGM banner. In the summer of 2005, after MGM was acquired by the group led by Sony Corp. and Providence Equity Partners, Sloan asked his friend Jonathan Nelson, who headed the private equity firm, to put him on MGM's board. That fall, when the investors were looking to hire a new chief executive, Sloan pitched himself.
The owners bought it.
"We needed an entrepreneur who was going to try to do things differently," Nelson said. "Harry is a guy who is always looking for solutions. He'll never stop trying to find the answer."
No sooner had Sloan taken over than he sucker-punched Sony by wresting control of MGM. After the buyout, Sony had dismantled MGM, slashing its staff from 1,500 to 250 and focused on selling DVDs of MGM's vast library of 4,000 titles.
Sloan persuaded the MGM board to dump Sony as MGM's distributor of DVDs and TV shows because of poor performance and cut a new deal with rival 20th Century Fox.
Sloan also reversed course by announcing that MGM would get back into theatrical distribution. To fill the pipeline, he made deals with outside producers such as Harvey Weinstein to supply finished movies.
But so far, nearly every release MGM has handled has flopped at the box office. Though the company gets a distribution fee no matter how a film performs, such unmemorable titles as "Blood and Chocolate" and "Material Girls" have led some to wonder whether the roaring lion logo is a kiss of death.
