{"id":24242,"date":"2015-03-25T19:50:25","date_gmt":"2015-03-25T23:50:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bejone03.expressions.syr.edu\/trf235\/?p=24242"},"modified":"2015-04-17T20:51:30","modified_gmt":"2015-04-18T00:51:30","slug":"viacom-7","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bejone03.expressions.syr.edu\/trf235\/2015\/03\/25\/viacom-7\/","title":{"rendered":"Viacom"},"content":{"rendered":"
by\u00a0\u00a0JACKIE PERRELLI<\/pre>\n
\"Earns<\/a>
Viacom Logo [1]<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n
Company\u00a0<\/strong><\/h1>\n
Viacom<\/a> is an entertainment powerhouse responsible for connecting with audiences through a variety of platforms.\u00a0 <\/span>With approximately 700 million global subscribers [2]<\/a>, Viacom distributes their content across television, and more importantly, online. Lately, Viacom has been focused on restructuring the company and finding new ways to reach audiences.\u00a0 <\/span>With his recent two-year contract extension, Philippe Dauman<\/a>, [3]<\/a> both CEO and President, is believed to be the right man in charge to handle the Viacom reboot.<\/p>\n
Dauman\u2019s leadership is especially important in a time when Sumner Redstone<\/a>, founder of Viacom, is in questionable health.\u00a0 Redstone was not able to attend the last shareholder meeting held in early March [4]<\/a>. The company is prepared; however, for a post-Sumner world.\u00a0 A board of trustees is in place consisting of current CEOs and family members, ready to protect the Viacom empire.\u00a0It has even been rumored that Viacom will merge with another media conglomerate, but told not during Redstone\u2019s reign\u00a0[5]<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Background<\/h1>\n
\"viacom-networks\"
Viacom TV Channels [23]<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n
MTV, VH1, CMT, Logo, BET, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, and TV Land are a few channels inclusive to the Viacom brand.\u00a0<\/span>In 1987 Redstone, controlling shareholder, bought the company for $3.4 billion dollars [6]<\/a>. Today, Viacom\u2019s share price is 69.77 [7]<\/a>.\u00a0This number is the result\u00a0of a 14 percent decline last year and already another 8.8 percent downfall in 2015 [8]<\/a>. Within the past 52 week period the Viacom share price has been as high as 89.76 [7]<\/a>. One source of the drop in stock price can be attributed to poor ratings.<\/p>\n
\"Screen<\/a>
Stock Price [9]<\/a><\/p><\/div>
\"Screen
Viacom Ratings [11]<\/a><\/p><\/div><\/p>\n
Viacom pinpoints Nielsen ratings and their inability to calculate views from online sources [10]<\/a>.\u00a0 <\/span>Due to the fact that most traditional viewers are switching to some sort of online viewing, ratings from online sources are imperative to Viacom.\u00a0 Since last year, most Viacom channels have declined greatly and are down 30 percent ratings wise [11]<\/a>. \u00a0<\/span>For this reason and many\u00a0more is why Viacom is in the middle of a reconstruction period.<\/p>\n
\u00a0Online Content<\/h1>\n
\"Noggin
Noggin Streaming Service [13]<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n
With the goal of staying relevant in a world that skews online, Viacom created a streaming service outside their traditional cable package.\u00a0 <\/span>This streaming service, Noggin, is through Nickelodeon and aimed at a younger demographic.\u00a0 <\/span>Due to an 18 percent tumble in audience viewership last quarter, Viacom introduced the service in order to compete with other companies.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>However, known for their television bundle, Viacom has to be careful not to turn viewers completely online, resulting in subscription cancellation. The livelihood of other channels\u00a0like VH1, MTV, and TV Land, are at risk if viewers abandon their subscriptions [12]<\/a>.\u00a0 <\/span>Viacom is already in risky territory with Suddenlink, the seventh-largest cable operator in the U.S, having recently discontinued their services with Viacom [14]<\/a>.<\/p>\n
\"imgres\"
Viacom VS Suddenlink [22]<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n
Not wanting to pay significant increases for channels, Suddenlink got rid of the bundle completely.\u00a0 <\/span>Although Suddenlink lost significant viewers from the Viacom split, 99.7 percent of their customers continued to pay for Internet services [14]<\/a>.\u00a0 <\/span>At a time with such a strong online presence,\u00a0 <\/span>Viacom fears that other cable companies could follow in Suddenlink\u2019s footsteps and drop the channel lineup; resulting in solely online streaming.\u00a0 <\/span>In preparation for the future of television, Viacom has planned to reorganize their company.\u00a0 <\/span>This has resulted in the favoring of employees with technical capabilities rather than traditional workers as content continues to move online [12]<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Viacom Restructuring<\/h1>\n
Along with a changing platform for providing content, Viacom is experiencing changes throughout the entire company.\u00a0 <\/span>Most of the changes occurring in the company today stem from both low ratings and advertisement sales. To ameliorate the ad sales, Viacom is going into upfront season with a new strategy to boost advertisers participation within the network. \u00a0With the Nielsen ratings not sustaining the amount of klout they once had, Viacom has chosen to guarantee success for the advertiser’s ads by broadcasting to very niche audiences [15]<\/a>.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\n\t
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