Following an extension that keeps Leslie Moonves at CBS (NYSE: CBS) through 2015, Sumner Redstone has locked in longtime friend and adviser Philippe Dauman as CEO of Viacom (NYSE: VIA) through 2016. Dauman’s previous contract was through 2011; his new contract adds another five years. Dauman was already on the…

That was then, this is now. After the “forced” sales of $233 million in Viacom (NYSE: VIA) and CBS shares sent the stocks into a spiral last October, Sumner Redstone promised that National Amusements “has no intention of selling a single share of Viacom or CBS stock”—but he didn’t say…

And now it’s done. Midway Games has been sold to Warner Bros. for $33 million—ending about six months worth of financial turmoil and headline-grabbing legal disputes surrounding the bankrupt Mortal Kombat publisher. Warner gets most of Midway’s assets in the deal, per the Chicago Tribune; disputes between the publisher’s unsecured…

It’s not usually a good sign when your earnings report starts with a vote of confidence from the boss and is followed by an explanation about why the same quarter last year was so good. CBS Corp. (NYSE: CBS) lost $55.3 million, or $0.8 per share, in the first quarter,…

Mortal Kombat publisher Midway Games is getting the AIG treatment: the Feds overseeing its bankruptcy proceedings (and its pack of peeved creditors) have slammed its plan to pay out just over $3.75 million in bonuses to over two dozen employees. Beaten down by the opposition, a Midway exec told Variety…

No financial Armageddon today for Sumner Redstone, who gets an indefinite reprieve on either paying—not gonna happen—or restructuring some $800 million in debt coming due for National Amusements. The total debt is about $1.6 billion. Redstone owns 80 percent of the company, which owns movie theaters and controls Viacom (NYSE:…

Sumner Redstone offloaded his majority stake in Midway Games earlier this week to ease his own debt woes, and now the gaming company is facing a grim future—including possible bankruptcy—as a result. Chicago-based Midway, publisher of the Mortal Kombat franchise, warned that it could end up defaulting on $240 million…

Scrambling to restructure National Amusement’s $1.6 billion debt this month, Sumner Redstone has sold off the company’s disastrous 87 percent stake in Midway Games for $100,000 in cash, assumption of debt—and a tax loss of $800 million,  the WSJ reported. Mark Thomas, described by the Journal as an investor without…

Two themes as Viacom (NYSE: VIA) execs pick up from the Beatles soundtrack playing while listeners waited for the Q3 call to start: Viacom Chairman Sumner Redstone’s effort to assuage concerns about the future of Viacom and CBS (NYSE: CBS) despite issues facing his holdings in National Amusement and Redstone…

Friday’s shock selloff by Sumner Redstone had Viacom’s (NYSE: VIA) stock reeling, but company CEO Philippe Dauman remained confident about the outlook for his company, he said at the Mipcom keynote today. Late last week Redstone announced a $233 million sell-off in CBS (NYSE: CBS) and Viacom stock by his…

Viacom (NYSE: VIA) was a rarity in 2007: a major media company whose stock rose. It wasn’t by much, mind you—from $41.01 to $43.98—but still impressive compared to its peers. For his first full year on the job, CEO Philippe Dauman, in the news today for a new studio JV,…

When it comes to technology, Sumner Redstone says he’s not an early adopter, but rather a “non-adopter”, joking about the fact that he doesn’t blog or Twitter. Still, during his keynote address to the Media and Money Conference, he made sure to get across that he’s hip to big digital…