Word: cbs
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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Scenes from the continuing come-uppance of Barry Diller: when his private jet landed near New York City at around 6 p.m. last Tuesday, the man who would be head of CBS had no idea that he was also coming down to earth from his latest flight of ambition. Ahead of him lay the prospect of suppers at the White House, chats with Dan Rather and interviews with world leaders. Not to mention the highest ratings of any network, record profits of $109 million in the second quarter and a chance to play an even larger role in bringing...
...There on the tarmac stood the rumpled figure of Ralph Roberts, 74, and his natty son Brian, 35, who controlled the Comcast cable-TV company and were partners with Diller in QVC. Known as straight-arrow businessmen in a rough-and-tumble industry, the Robertses hated the merger with CBS and arrived at the airport with a letter that contained shattering news for Diller: to bust up the deal that had electrified Wall Street when it was announced last month, Comcast was offering $2.2 billion, or $44 a share, for the 84% of QVC stock that it did not already...
...Diller wasn't furious at the Robertses, others were mad enough at the family to make up for the omission. "Hollywood couldn't have written a script like this," snapped a source close to CBS chairman Laurence Tisch. "All these cable-cum-broadcasting people, they have three traits: they're phenomenally greedy, they're phenomenally jealous, and they're filled with a lot of hate for their competitors...
...Robertses' bid not only reaffirmed Diller's status as a mogul manque, but it left CBS on the block for a takeover attempt by anyone from the Walt Disney Co. to cable-TV magnate Ted Turner. By agreeing last month to join forces with QVC, Tisch, 71, had shown himself willing to cash in half of his 20% stake in the network and to hand the titles of president and chief executive officer to Diller. Now, with the QVC deal gone aglimmering, CBS had what amounted to a COMPANY FOR SALE sign on its black granite headquarters in New York...
...owner Ted Turner was reported to be once again eyeing CBS, after its failed merger with QVC. But government regulations would probably block Turner from purchasing the "Tiffany network," according to TIME's New York correspondent Massimo Calabresi. Federal laws prohibit one company from controlling both television stations and cable systems in the same market. Turner's cable connections? Time Warner Inc. and Tele-Communications, Inc. -- both of which own stock in his company...