Viacom Inc

Call it the Obama Effect. Or the Tyler Factor. Is the hottest niche audience middle-aged African Americans? Viacom Inc. is betting yes as its Black Entertainment Television Group is launching Centric, a cable channel aimed at that demographic. In making the announcement, BET Chief Executive Debra Lee said that in light of the "historic change our country has experienced, this is the perfect time for BET Networks to reexamine where we are as a company and what we can be for our audience."

Viacom Inc. and the video game industry are hoping they'll get more than a little help from the Beatles. When the Beatles: Rock Band hits stores Sept. 9, Viacom is betting that the new title from its MTV unit will end a slump in the market and vindicate the company's expensive and unprofitable entry into the music video game business over the last two years. The new game applies the simulated rock star experience that many are familiar with from other Rock Band games and Activision Blizzard Inc.'s Guitar Hero and brings in the Beatles, who have never before appeared in a video game.

Billionaire Sumner Redstone got caught in the credit crunch Friday. The 85-year-old mogul, who has long bragged about his financial savvy and competitive drive, was forced to sell a fifth of his family's stake in his two media companies -- Viacom Inc. and CBS Corp. -- on a day when the companies' shares were trading at record lows. It shows that even the wealthiest people are not immune to the meltdown in the markets and are being thrust into once-unimaginable situations.

Billionaire Sumner Redstone's National Amusements Inc. said Monday that it had sold $233 million worth of stock in Viacom Inc. and CBS Corp. to raise cash to comply with debt covenants -- $167 million less than the company said three days earlier that it would need.

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.'

Time Warner Cable subscribers could lose "SpongeBob SquarePants," "Dora the Explorer" and Jon Stewart at midnight tonight if the cable company fails to agree on a new contract with one of its biggest suppliers. Viacom Inc. has threatened to pull its programming in a high-stakes showdown over pricing. Nearly 2 million homes in the Los Angeles area that are customers of Time Warner Cable Inc. could lose such Viacom channels as Nickelodeon, MTV, VH-1, Comedy Central, Spike, TV Land and BET.

Herb Scannell, who helped build Viacom Inc.'s Nickelodeon into a children's television juggernaut, is wading into online entertainment. Scannell will unveil today Next New Networks, a company that plans to put more than 30 of what it calls "micro-television networks" on the Internet. The networks will have their own websites and feature entertainment segments lasting three to 12 minutes each. Much of the content will be supplied by Internet communities.

A high-profile executive at MTV Networks is leaving the company as part of upheaval among Viacom Inc.'s executive ranks, a Viacom spokesman said Thursday. Michael Wolf, a former McKinsey & Co. managing partner and a well-known media strategist, will step down as MTV Networks' president after spending a little more than a year at the company. Nicole Browning, president of affiliate sales and marketing at MTV Networks and a 20-year veteran, also is leaving the company, Viacom said.

Viacom Inc.'s demand Friday that YouTube remove more than 100,000 clips from the popular online video site is more than brinksmanship at the bargaining table. It's a battle of the brands. The entertainment conglomerate's insistence that YouTube remove such coveted content as highlights from "The Daily Show With Jon Stewart" and "The Colbert Report" signals that it believes these brands have enough cachet to attract an online audience, with or without YouTube.

Viacom Inc. said it might sell its music publishing business, which includes music from contemporary hit artists Eminem and Shakira. Viacom, which owns movie studio Paramount Pictures and cable channel MTV Networks, has hired UBS Investment Bank to explore strategic alternatives to boost the value of the division, Famous Music. Famous Music was founded in 1928 by Paramount's predecessor, Famous-Lasky Corp., to publish music that accompanied its movies.