ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, April 9, 1996 TAG: 9604090071
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-5 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: NEW YORK
SOURCE: Associated Press
In his first big move since assuming daily control of Viacom Inc., chairman Sumner Redstone has moved into Europe with a deal that will bring his media company up to $2 billion over 10 years.
Viacom on Monday announced an alliance with German broadcaster KirchGroup to televise entertainment from the likes of Viacom's MTV and Paramount TV and movie studio.
While Viacom has individual licensing deals throughout Europe, its new alliance with Kirch is its first to funnel all of Paramount's programming into a European country.
The deal also comes three months after the ouster of chief executive Frank Biondi. Redstone, a 72-year-old multibillionaire who controls Viacom's voting stock, has said he wants to bring a more entrepreneurial style to the company.
``I have always felt, and I have led my life up until this point in this way, that the only way you really succeed with a company as diverse as Viacom is to get to where the action is, right away,'' Redstone said in a telephone interview.
Viacom's alliance with Kirch provides the U.S. entertainment conglomerate a new way to get its television shows and movies in front of more viewers. The deal with Kirch is to last for five years and can be extended another five.
Viacom did not publicly disclose a value for the deal. But knowledgeable sources said it would generate licensing revenue of up to $2 billion over the full 10 years.
Kirch owns the second- and third-largest networks in Germany, Europe's second-biggest television market. Kirch has agreed to carry Viacom's MTV Europe, VH-1 Germany and some Nickelodeon programming on its new digital pay TV service.
LENGTH: Short : 42 linesby CNB