Sumner Redstone

Viacom Inc.'s profit fell short of Wall Street's expectations as the company continued to struggle with ratings declines at Nickelodeon and other cable networks while worldwide theatrical revenue took a nose dive. For the April-June period, the New York-based media company controlled by mogul Sumner Redstone generated net income of $534 million, or $1.01 a share, compared with $574 million, or 99 cents, for the year-earlier period.  Fiscal third-quarter revenue came in at $3.24 billion, a 14% decline from $3.77 billion in the prior year period.

A few years ago, Paula Redstone was teaching third grade. Now she's going back to school -- at two of the TV networks run by her husband, billionaire Sumner Redstone. An entertainment neophyte who married Redstone in 2003, the former Paula Fortunato, 43, has lately been studying the business by spending a few days a week in the Los Angeles offices of UPN and Nickelodeon, two networks in the sprawling Viacom Inc. empire controlled by her 83-year-old husband.

Sumner Redstone hinted Monday that he might sell his family's movie theaters to fix his pressing debt problems. In a conference call with analysts, the 85-year old media mogul said his privately held National Amusements Inc., which operates 1,500 theaters, owns "valuable real estate holdings throughout the country." The company must come up with an $800-million debt payment next month as it negotiates with lenders to restructure $1.6 billion in loans. Redstone, during the call for Viacom Inc.'

In the latest feud within the Redstone clan, the nephew of Viacom Inc. Chairman Sumner M. Redstone is suing the media mogul for allegedly cutting him and his late sister out of their stake in the family business -- a stake that could be worth more than $1 billion today. The fight is over National Amusements, the controlling shareholder of Viacom, CBS Corp. and video game maker Midway Games Inc., which portrayed the lawsuit as a "meritless" action by a relative, Michael D.

American presidents can serve only two terms. In baseball, even a great slugger is lucky to get a seven-year contract. But at Viacom, Sumner Redstone is apparently king for life.

Viacom Inc. paid its chief executive, Sumner Redstone, $56 million in total compensation in 2004, an increase of 58% from the year before, even as the entertainment giant's share price declined 18% last year. Redstone drew a $5-million salary last year and received a $16.5-million bonus, as well as options for 2 million of the company's shares that were valued at $34.4 million, according to a document the company filed Friday with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

When the hubby-to-be is a billionaire -- yes, with a b -- his bride-to-be can surely have anything she wants. Absolutely anything. So why bother registering for wedding gifts? Paula Fortunato, a third-grade teacher at a public school -- yes, public -- in Manhattan, is about to become the second Mrs. Sumner Redstone, the outrageously wealthy boss of Viacom Inc., owner of Paramount Pictures, CBS Television, MTV, Nickelodeon and on and on.

MGM/UA Entertainment said Tuesday that it will increase its offer to buy back the 15% stake of MGM/UA Home Entertainment Group that it doesn't already own, as part of an agreement to settle a lawsuit with a dissident shareholder of the home entertainment company.

As the Paramount Communications takeover battle staggers down the home stretch, it's business as usual on Barry Diller's QVC Network--with faux diamond rings, treadmills and radar detectors selling alongside Beatles memorabilia personally blessed by Cynthia Lennon. All that's missing is Diller himself, whose Paramount gambit would probably benefit from a promotional push on his own airwaves. The technology revolution hasn't spawned any merger infomercials so far.

For Sumner Redstone, the coming attractions at his theaters are not about the movies. With the sale of his ill-fated stake in video game maker Midway Games Inc. out of the way, Redstone can now focus on attracting interest from buyers for parts of his family's movie theater circuit to pay down his company's onerous debt. Although such a plan has been outlined for his lenders, with whom Redstone's company, National Amusements Inc., is negotiating to restructure $1.