What we have here is a problem to communicate?

[Xothas]

SyFyPortal has posted an article that conflicts somewhat with the numerous other reports regarding Viacom:

http://www.syfyportal.com/article.php?id=1035

This article fails to take into consideration that Viacom can certainly still take action.....the following articles suggest that such is the case:

http://www.nypost.com/business/1636.htm
http://www.forbes.com/markets/newswire/2003/06/24/rtr1008411.html
http://www.forbes.com/home_asia/newswire/2003/06/23/rtr1007748.html
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,630-722116,00.html

Of course, it's still up in the air.....but it's certainly premature to be counting them out.

[vhsiv]

Xothas - It's a multi-biillon dollar business deal. Anything that the participants can do to shave a few cents off of every dollar is a multi-million dollar savings. It seems to me, that Viacom is communicating quite effectively - they're not going to be taken to the cleaners over this.

Let SyFi Portal and imdb.com and the Hollywood Reporter have their 'Viacom disinterest' stories - it's all part of the negotiating process, and it ultimately drives the cost of the network down. Is Skiffy really the 'peach' or the 'plum'? Only if someone with half a brain is running the network.

'Python II' and 'The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas' never struck me as quality entertainment with a particularly desirable 'target demographic'. Let 'em run it, let Wall Street watch SciFi run it. Let Viacom refrain from bidding. Watch VUE stock valuation fall. Watch VUE's creditors get antsy. Watch SciFi as it gets sold off in a fire sale. That's the way the game is played.

[waltersgirl]

vhsiv,

i got the impression from his initial post with the extra articles for reference that he understands what's up and wanted everyone here to know the picture is bigger than SyFyPortal was portraying it.

[Digger]

CNBC had another guest on Krudlow and Cramer last night discussing the Vivendi deal. I can't remember his name, but he was the CEO of YES.com. He is a close advisor of John Malone of Liberty, although he declined to say if he was working with Liberty on this deal. When asked about the sale he said that despite all the stories and speculation we saw yesterday that the bidding process was far from over and there was almost certainly a lot more going on than was reported. There is supposedly a gag rule on those parties directly involved in the bidding process but there are certain to be leaks. He mentioned Viacom two or three times as a party that was still interested and could still play a big part in the coming weeks.

[Darth Buddha]

My worry here is that we've pegged our hopes on Viacom but then even if it does happen, the results don't pan out in Farscape's favor.

There doesn't appear to be a bidder out there who could be anything near as positive as the Henson family for Henson, the Creature Shop and the Muppets That exceeded all imaginable expectations.

I don't know that Viacom could possibly be nearly as positive as that.

[Davesnothome]

One concern though, is that if Viacom isn't involved with buying Universal Entertainment directly from Vivende, it stretches out the time it might take for the hoped for purchase of the Scifi channel by Viacom. Whoever ends up purchasing Universal, it won't happen overnight. It might take months before all the details are completed. Then the new owner and Viacom will have to sit down and negotiate another sale to get the Scifi channel. More time. The more time it takes can only be a negative for Farscape. Those involved with the Farscape series have to move on to other projects. They get tied up with new projects and they might not be available, if the show returns in the form of episodes.

Personally, I believe for Viacom, the Star Trek franchise will always come first and Farscape a distant second, for future productions, if Viacom eventually buys the Scifi channel.

Dave

[Digger]

Darth, I don't think anyone ever said that a purchase of the SciFi channel by Viacom would be a 'slam-dunk" in terms of getting Farscape back. My contention has always been that with Viacom's track record or supporting genre programming (Star Trek, Buffy) they seemed to be the best alternative. And we'd heard at one time that UPN was interested in Farscape, although that was never positively confirmed. Viacom have been expressing their interest in either buying skiffy or starting their own sci-fi channel for years, and there was a quote once from Sumner Redstone (IIRC) that lamented the fact that there wasn't a "true" sci-fi channel, as opposed to one that was more or a psuedo-scifi channel that showed more paranormal type shows than true sci-fi. That to me speaks volumes and shows that Viacom understands what sci-fi is. Something the people running skiffy now don't seem to understand.

Of course we could be entirely wrong. For all we know Liberty or NBC or even Edgar Bronfman might be the best bet in getting FS back. Only time will tell.

And as for how long this may take; yes, regardless of who buys VUE it may take a few months for them to cross all the t's and dot all the i's, but you would think that anyone who does purchase the Vivendi assets would have some idea of what they wanted to do with them. Once they've signed an agreement to buy VUE they would probably at least start to implement some of those plans so that when they took formal possesion they could hit the ground running.

[VBKatLou]

Originally posted by Digger
and there was a quote once from Sumner Redstone (IIRC) that lamented the fact that there wasn't a "true" sci-fi channel, as opposed to one that was more or a psuedo-scifi channel that showed more paranormal type shows than true sci-fi.

I believe Mel Karmazin is the one who's quotes have appeared in articles. I don't believe I have seen any quotes/opinions (at least on this board) from Sumner Redstone on the subject.

for newbies - there are a lot of posts at FMD that read collectively would imply that we somehow do think if Viacom buys SciFi, they automatically will bring back Farscape. Here's my opinion of what we want and hope will happen (and everybody feel free to chime in here :rollin: )

We know that the current programming management at SciFi will not purchase a season 5 of Farscape. We are hoping that a network programing management group will take a look at Farscape and include it in their lineup. We don't really care which network, we just want it back on the air. We hope that if Viacom does acquire SciFi, they will

1. Bring in new programming management who would be interested in Farscape and would put it back on SciFi in some way, shape or form.

2. Reshuffle programs so that there would be room on another one of their networks, such as UPN or ShowTime for Farscape.


I'm not trying to speak for the whole board when I say "we". Since we're just fans of the show, and have no part in the decision making process, all we can do is try to gather accurate info (articles and such) and then sit back and speculate in an educated manner. Is my response close to what we said we wanted? Feedback?

[trubador]

Remember, also, that Viacom has stated in the recent past that they were interested in acquiring Sci-Fi Network *OR* starting their own sci-fi network. Viacom is still a viable avenue for FS to return (whether they acquire Skiffy or not).:cool:

[grapeshot]

And, just to show what MORE media consolidation really means, here's something from today's IMDB website (6/25)

No Laughing Matter As Comedy Central Employees Axed


Employees waiting for the axe to fall following the merger of Comedy Central into the Viacom empire learned Wednesday that their losses would be far greater than expected. Published reports said that pink slips were sent to about 20 percent of the 350-person staff, with personnel at Viacom's MTV Networks assuming the duties of the fired Comedy Central workers in such areas as human resources, affiliate sales, legal, finance, and research. In a statement, the cable network said, "This has been a very difficult process for us to go through. ... Unfortunately, implementing the integration plan means that some very capable, devoted and hard-working people will be leaving us."


Viacom had previously been a HALF owner, along with (I THINK) GE. (Er, my memory fails me. It might have been someone else.)

While this doesn't SEEM to have affected people making programming decisions at EITHER of the two channels, it's very possible that down the road Viacom might well decide to centralize operations even more. It's not just that people have lost jobs (which is sad to hear) but that as conglomerates try to wring more and more profits from their combined assets, it's awfully tempting for them to reduce overhead by consolidating departments. (And reducing operating costs -- which means firing people.) Thus it's theoretically possible that at some future time, the programming people at MTV may also be making the programming decisions at Comedy Central. This can gradually lead to a situation where programming decisions for a large number of channels are made by very few people, which CAN make for more homogenious programming (or to put it another way, a lack of variety, or a lack of real choices).

Viacom, so far, has shown an ability to keep the identities of their different networks distinct from one another. Hopefully this consolidation is limited only to support (or other ancilliary) functions.