Hollywood starts with an agent

Chapter 539 Viacom's Ambition

With Dawn agreeing to exchange its cable television shares with Liberty Media, the two sides quickly began formal transaction negotiations.
50% of USA Networks was exchanged for Starz! pay channel and 20% for BET entertainment channel.

After selling TCI this year, John Malone has shifted his investment focus more towards cable television stations rather than his original cable television services.

USA and Discovery Channel are both targets of Liberty Media!
"A Bug's Life has grossed $1.3 million in North America, and with its release overseas, it has now surpassed $1 million in international box office revenue."

"Disney's 'Mulan' grossed $1.2 million in North America and $3 million worldwide. It seems that it's only a matter of time before it's surpassed by 'A Bug's Life'."

In Beverly Hills, at Bel Air Estate, Aaron sat on a sofa, chatting with Edwin Catmull, President and Chief Technology Officer of Pixar.

Edwin Catmull smiled and said, "The advantages of 3D animation are still evident!"

Aaron nodded. "Next, your competitor will be DreamWorks Animation. Their first animated feature film, *Antz*, can also be considered a 3D computer-animated film."

"Although it did not perform as well at the box office as Toy Story and A Bug's Life, it mainly lost out in terms of creativity."

Moreover, DreamWorks' Ants and Pixar's A Bug's Life share some similarities.

DreamWorks Animation has long considered Pixar its biggest competitor in the future of 3D animation!
Edwin Catmull thought for a moment and said, "DreamWorks' 'The Prince of Egypt,' which will be released at the end of the year, is a traditional 2D hand-drawn animation. I don't believe DreamWorks will completely switch to 3D computer animation."

"Yes, 2D hand-drawn animation still has a certain market. Disney's dominance in animation is not so easy to replace!"

While 3D computer animation certainly offers many advantages, the role of traditional 2D animation cannot be completely denied, as there are always many nostalgic viewers.

Currently, Pixar is headed by Edwin Catmull in charge of technology and management, and John Lasseter in charge of creative and directing work.
Operations and marketing are handled by Dawning Universal, since Pixar is an important part of Universal Studios theme park resorts!

In the evening, Aaron attended a cocktail party at the Charlie Hotel in West Hollywood, where he met Mr. Sumner Redstone, the chairman of Viacom.
Viacom has been quite active this year, not only selling a 20% stake in Bestech for less than $5 million, but also selling Simon & Schuster’s educational book business to Pearson for over $40 billion!

The significant shrinkage of Bestar's assets is due to the rise of DVDs and the opening of more and more small stores, which has diverted a considerable amount of Bestar's profits.
Simon & Schuster Publishing Group retained only its general merchandise business in order to complement its Paramount Entertainment subsidiary.

"Aaron, have you reached an agreement with John Malone regarding USA Cable Network?"

Sumner Redstone and Aaron clinked glasses.

"Yes, Liberty Media is exchanging Starz! pay channel and 20% of BET entertainment for it. I'm quite satisfied with this offer!"

Sumner Redstone nodded. "USA Networks, combined with the previously established Sci Fi channel, is valued at approximately $70 billion."

“Barry Diller had previously wanted to acquire USA Cable Network, but I wasn’t interested in his HSN (Home Shopping Network) group.”

Barry Diller was originally leading QVC (a television shopping network), but after losing the bid for Paramount to Viacom, Comcast acquired QVC.

Subsequently, Barry Diller left QVC, acquired part of HSN, and became its head!

Aaron smiled. "I don't think I've received a takeover offer from Barry Diller?"

Summer Redstone shook his head. "Everyone knows Dawn isn't short of money. If you want to acquire Dawn's assets, you need something that really appeals to you." John Malone dared to make these offers because they'd given up Starz! The pay-TV network!
According to what the other party said, Liberty Media must have already secured the 50% stake in USA Cable Network held by Viacom.

John Malone originally started out running a cable television network, which was acquired by the TCI Group along the way.

"With its acquisition by AT&T for a hefty $480 billion this year, Liberty Media now has a lot of cash on its hands!"

Aaron was not surprised by Liberty Media's acquisition of USA Cable Network.

Sumner Redstone thought for a moment and then said, "Currently, Viacom owns MTV, Nickelodeon (a children's channel), Showtime (a pay-TV network), and CCC (a comedy channel co-operated with Time Warner);"

“They are all types of cable TV networks, and now we are also interested in BET Entertainment Channel.”

Aaron blinked. After all that, wasn't Summer Redstone trying to say that Viacom had its eye on BET Black Entertainment Cable Network?

"BET's major shareholder is its founder and chairman, Robert Johnson. If Viacom is truly interested, they can simply talk to him directly."

"You know, Dawn only owns 20% of BET's shares!"

Aaron found it somewhat amusing.

Summer Redstone looked at Aaron. "Oh, so you mean Dawn doesn't object to BET being acquired?"

Aaron shrugged. "Shuguang is indeed willing to sell its shares in BET as long as the price is right."

Aaron wasn't really interested in a Black entertainment television network, especially since Dawn wasn't the controlling shareholder of BET.

Now that Starz! is here, Aaron just wants to have a serious go-ahead with HBO and make Starz! famous with a big investment.

Sumner Redstone smiled. "I hope this collaboration goes well. Cheers!"

Aaron downed his drink in one gulp. Viacom's acquisition of BET was a minor matter, but Sumner Redstone was no ordinary man.

A nationwide wireless broadcasting network is something not only Dawn wants, but Viacom, which owns Paramount, also wants.

NBC, owned by General Electric, and CBS, owned by Westinghouse Electric, are not just being watched by Aaron.

However, General Electric is currently at the peak of its development, and its revenue this year is likely to exceed $100 billion, making it the first company to break the $100 billion mark.

NBC, as General Electric's media business, accounts for only about 6% of revenue, which is negligible.

Currently, GE Capital, the financial services division, accounts for the largest portion of GE's revenue. In a sense, GE can be considered an investment group rather than just a diversified manufacturing group!
Aaron muttered to himself, "The world's number one CEO—Jack Welch."

(End of this chapter)