Redstone hit by credit troubles

CBS said it would take a write-down of about $14 billion to account for the diminished value of its TV and radio stations, which have been hard hit by the advertising downturn. The noncash charge, which is meant to bring the value of the company's assets in line with the market value of CBS, is expected to be included in third-quarter results at the end of the month.

CBS nonvoting B shares nose-dived Friday, falling 20% to $8.10. A year earlier, they were trading at $30. Viacom's B shares also plunged, at one point trading down 28%. They bounced back a bit, ending the day down 17.9% to $16.50. The shares are down 62.4% since the beginning of the year.

Stocks of other media companies also were dragged into the slide, although most others rallied late in the roller-coaster day on Wall Street.

"Most companies would seek a waiver or an amendment, and the banks may have looked for a large fee or just said no, " said Neil Begley, an analyst with Moody's Investors Service.

"But ultimately the sale of this stock came at a most unfortunate time when shares were trading at a fraction of what they were a year ago. For the Redstones, this was rather historic -- and on the negative side. This was a real nasty shot for them."

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meg.james@latimes.com