abhishreshthaa
Abhijeet S
Viacom , short for "Video & Audio Communications", is a United States-based media conglomerate with interests primarily in, but not limited to, cinema and cable television. As of 2010, it is the world's fourth-largest media conglomerate, behind The Walt Disney Company, Time Warner and News Corporation.
The current Viacom was created on December 31, 2005 as a spinoff from CBS Corporation, which changed its name from Viacom at the same time. CBS, not Viacom, retains control of the over-the-air broadcasting, TV production, outdoor advertising, subscription pay television (Showtime) and publishing assets (Simon & Schuster) formerly owned by the larger company. However, National Amusements remains the common majority shareholder of both firms. Predecessor firms of CBS Corporation include Gulf + Western, which later became Paramount Communications Inc., and Westinghouse Electric Corporation.
n March 2005, the prior Viacom announced plans of looking into splitting the company into two publicly traded companies. The company was not only dealing with a stagnating stock price, but also the rivalry between Leslie Moonves and Tom Freston, longtime heads of CBS and MTV Networks, respectively.
After the departure of Mel Karmazin in 2004, Redstone, who served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, decided to split the offices of President and Chief Operating Officer between Moonves and Freston. Redstone was set to retire in the near future, and a split would be a creative solution to the matter of replacing him. It was also intended to provide alternative investments that would be more appealing to different investors - one a high cash flow, lower growth company that could afford to pay a substantial dividend and the other a growing company that would have greater investment opportunities and therefore would not be expected to pay a dividend.[citation needed]
The split was approved by Viacom's board June 14, 2005. The original Viacom changed its name to CBS Corporation and is headed by Moonves. It now includes Viacom's "slow growth businesses", namely CBS, The CW (formerly The WB and UPN), CBS Radio, Simon & Schuster, CBS Outdoor, Showtime, CBS Records, CBS Television Studios and most television production assets.
Strengths
* Cost advantage
* Effective communication
* Innovation
* Loyal customers
* Strong management team
* Supply chain
* Pricing
* Real estate
* Reputation management
* Unique products
Weaknesses
* Diseconomies to scale
* Low R&D
* Low market share
* No online presence
Opportunities
* Acquisitions
* Financial markets (raise money through debt, etc)
* Emerging markets and expansion abroad
* Online
* Product and services expansion
Threats
* Competition
* Cheaper technology
* Economic slowdown
* External changes (government, politics, taxes, etc)
* Lower cost competitors or imports
* Price wars
* Product substitution
The current Viacom was created on December 31, 2005 as a spinoff from CBS Corporation, which changed its name from Viacom at the same time. CBS, not Viacom, retains control of the over-the-air broadcasting, TV production, outdoor advertising, subscription pay television (Showtime) and publishing assets (Simon & Schuster) formerly owned by the larger company. However, National Amusements remains the common majority shareholder of both firms. Predecessor firms of CBS Corporation include Gulf + Western, which later became Paramount Communications Inc., and Westinghouse Electric Corporation.
n March 2005, the prior Viacom announced plans of looking into splitting the company into two publicly traded companies. The company was not only dealing with a stagnating stock price, but also the rivalry between Leslie Moonves and Tom Freston, longtime heads of CBS and MTV Networks, respectively.
After the departure of Mel Karmazin in 2004, Redstone, who served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, decided to split the offices of President and Chief Operating Officer between Moonves and Freston. Redstone was set to retire in the near future, and a split would be a creative solution to the matter of replacing him. It was also intended to provide alternative investments that would be more appealing to different investors - one a high cash flow, lower growth company that could afford to pay a substantial dividend and the other a growing company that would have greater investment opportunities and therefore would not be expected to pay a dividend.[citation needed]
The split was approved by Viacom's board June 14, 2005. The original Viacom changed its name to CBS Corporation and is headed by Moonves. It now includes Viacom's "slow growth businesses", namely CBS, The CW (formerly The WB and UPN), CBS Radio, Simon & Schuster, CBS Outdoor, Showtime, CBS Records, CBS Television Studios and most television production assets.
Strengths
* Cost advantage
* Effective communication
* Innovation
* Loyal customers
* Strong management team
* Supply chain
* Pricing
* Real estate
* Reputation management
* Unique products
Weaknesses
* Diseconomies to scale
* Low R&D
* Low market share
* No online presence
Opportunities
* Acquisitions
* Financial markets (raise money through debt, etc)
* Emerging markets and expansion abroad
* Online
* Product and services expansion
Threats
* Competition
* Cheaper technology
* Economic slowdown
* External changes (government, politics, taxes, etc)
* Lower cost competitors or imports
* Price wars
* Product substitution