Stargate2077
03-29-2003, 05:06 PM
Ok. Here is a quick summary about current events at Vivendi Universal/Sci-Fi Channel.
June 1994 - Seagram names Edgar Bronfman Jr. CEO.
April 1995 - Seagram purchases 80% of MCA Inc, later renamed Universal Studios, for $5.7 billion.
October 1997 - Bronfman merges much of Universal's television division with Barry Diller's Home Shopping Network for $1.2 billion in cash and a 45% stake in the new company, to be run by Mr. Diller.
December 1998 - Seagram completes tender offer for shares of PolyGram for $10.4 billion in cash and stock.
December 2000 - Diageo and Pernod Ricard buy Seagram's spirits business for $8.15 billion from Seagram's new owner, Vivendi.
December 8, 2000 - Vivendi Universal is created through the merger of Vivendi, Seagram, and Canal+.
April 2001 - Bonnie Hammer is named President of the Sci-Fi Channel (Bonnie Hammer has worked on the Sci-Fi Channel since 1989)
July 2001 - It is announced that Michael Jackson, who runs a British television operation Channel 4, has been hired by Barry Diller to be the president and CEO of USA Entertainment Group.
Late 2001-Middle of 2002 - Jean-Marie Messier is praised by his bold moves of buying many companies out and making Vivendi Universal the largest media company, second only to AOL Time Warner.
October 1, 2001 - Bonnie Hammer announces the 2 year renewal agreement for Farscape.
November 5, 2001 - Stephen Chao resigns as president of USA Cable (Chao was reported to be a very strong supporter of Farscape along with Bonnie Hammer); Michael Jackson takes over as president and CEO of USA Entertainment. Chao's old position is not filled. Jackson reports directly to Barry Diller, chairman and CEO of USA.
December 17, 2001 - Vivendi Universal (VU) acquires the entertainment assets of USA Networks and creates Vivendi Universal Entertainment (VUE) which combines Universal Studios with these newly acquired assets. Messier is CEO of Vivendi Universal; Barry Diller is to be CEO VUE. (Shareholders of USA Entertainment try to block the sale of USA Entertainment, but it does not work)
January 2002 - Contracts for the 2 year renewal of Farscape are signed.
March 2002 - Vivendi unveils a €13.6 billion ($11.83 billion) loss for 2001, at the time the biggest loss in French corporate history.
May 7, 2002 - VU closes acquisition of USA Networks; VUE gets $1.6 billion dollar loan to close this deal. The loan is due in November 2002.
May 30, 2002 - VU issues press release about its cash position and its deteriorating credit rating.
July 3, 2002 - Jean-Marie Messier steps down as CEO of Vivendi Universal
July 3, 2002 - Jean-René Fourtou takes Jean-Marie Messier's place and begins a massive cost sutting and the selling of assests in order to bring Vivendi Universal's cripling debt of $30 Billion under control
July 8, 2002 - VU press release mentions Vivendi's short term liquidity concerns that were disclosed at the board meeting.
July 10, 2002 - New VU CEO Fourtou announces a billion Euro dollar unsecured loan facility to address Vivendi's liquidity concerns and that VU is working with its bank lenders to put in place refinancing requirements.
November 27, 2002 - Vivendi announces that it has gotten an extension on the $1.6 billion loan for acquiring USA Networks.
March 11, 2003 - Current debt of Vivendi Universal is placed at $13 Billion
March 19, 2003 - Barry Diller gives up his position of CEO at Vivendi Universal Entertainment (VUE) to pursue his interest in USA Interactive (USAI). (USAI is all of the assests that were part of USA Networks except for the entertainment division: USA and the Sci-Fi Channel)
Summer 2003 - Numerous assests have already been sold and Vivendi Universal Entertainment, which contains USA Netwroks, is expected to be one of the next assests to be sold (Current bidders are NBC (owned by GM), MGM, Viacom, Seagram, and Liberty Media. Vivendi has said it wants to raise 7 Billion Euros (approx. $7.5 Billion dollars) from disposals this year as the group strives to return to an investment grade rating.
Present - Vivendi Universal Entertainment is in the process of a merger with NBC (owned by GM).
For more detailed information look at the articles in the next post.
Stargate2077
03-29-2003, 05:07 PM
http://www.cjr.org/owners/vivendi.asp
Who Owns What – Vivendi Universal
Film and Television
Universal Studios
Universal Pictures
October Films (majority interest)
Universal Studios Home Video
United International Pictures (33% - international distribution)
Cinema International BV (49% - video distribution)
Television Production and Distribution
CANAL+ (51% - European pay-TV provider)
Universal Television Group (production and distribution)
Brillstein-Grey Entertainment (50% ) - production
Multimedia Entertainment
USA Networks Inc. (43%)
Universal Pay Television (international distribution) partial ownership of: HBO Asia Telecine (Brazil) Cinecanal (Latin America) Showtime (Australia) Star Channel (Japan)
Telepiu (Italian pay television)
Publishing
Vivendi Universal Publishing
Education titles include:
Larousse
Nathan
Anaya
Coktel
Atica
Scipione
Bordas
Retz
Literature titles include:
Robert Laffont
Plon-Perrin
Les Presses - Solar - Belfond
La Decouverte & Syros
Les Presses de la Renaissance
Pocket Jeuness
10/18
Fleuve Noir
Games titles include:
Sierra
Blizzard Entertainment
Interactive
Universal Studios New Media Group
Universal Studios Online
Universal.com
Universal Interactive Studios (software and video games)
Universal Digital Arts
Interplay (majority ownership - video game producer)
GetMusic (online music retailer)
Vizzavi (European multi-access portal)
Education.com
Flipside.com
@viso (50% with Softbank)
AllocinŽ
Bonjour.fr
Ad2-One
Atmedica
Scoot
EMusic.com
Duet (with Sony)
MP3.com
Music
Universal Music Group
MCA Records
MCA Records Nashville
Polygram
Motown
Decca Records
Deutsche Grammophon
GRP Recording Company
Geffen/DGC Records
Universal Records
Rising Tide
Interscope Records
Hip-O Records
Universal Music and Video Distribution
Universal Music International
MCA Music Publishing
Interscope Music Publishing
All Nations Catalog
Universal Concerts (concert promotion)
Theme Parks/Recreation/Retail
Universal Studios Hollywood
CityWalk
Universal Orlando Resort
Universal Studios Theme Park
Universal's Islands of Adventure Theme Park
CityWalk
Portofino Bay Hotel
Hard Rock Hotel
Royal Pacific Resort
Wet-n-Wild Orlando
Universal Studios Japan
CityWalk
Universal Mediterranea (Spain)
Universal Mediterranea Theme Park
Hotel Port Aventura
Telecommunications
Vivendi Telecom International
Cegetel
Retail
Spencer Gifts
Other
Vivendi Environnement (the world's #1 water distributor)
Vivendi Universal owns 26.8 million shares in Time - Warner
Cineplex Odeon Corporation (42% - theaters)
Cinema International Corporation (49% - international theaters)
United Cinemas International (49% - international theaters)
Viventures (venture capital fund)
Duet (music-subscription service with Yahoo! and Sony)
http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/mar2003/nf20030311_1163_db011.htm
MARCH 11, 2003
POWER LUNCH
By Ron Grover
How Big Is Universal's Problem?
Hollywood buzz has the studio, which French parent Vivendi has up for sale, on the verge of mutiny. Not so, says boss Ron Meyer
A giant poster for Universal Pictures' 1930 classic All Quiet on the Western Front hangs prominently in the lobby of the Hollywood studio's headquarters. The winner of the Academy Award for Best Picture that year, it's a reminder of Universal's golden days. But lately, things aren't so sanguine. Rumors of discord among the ranks have been circulating for months. Folks are said to be complaining of reduced bonuses, some talk of leaving, and still others claim that any producers worth their salt are taking choice projects elsewhere.
Hollywood studios live and die on their buzz, and these days it isn't so great for Universal. That's mostly because no one knows what the future holds for the studio that has churned out such recent blockbusters as the Mummy franchise and The Fast and the Furious. For months, Universal's French parent, Vivendi Universal (V ), has been taking bids for the studio, along with its theme park, music, and cable-channel assets.
Paris-based Vivendi is struggling with more than $13 billion in debt remaining from the nearly $30 billion rung up in a wild buying spree by the since-dispatched Jean-Marie Messier. Among those who have expressed interest in the Universal properties are Viacom (VIA ), News Corp. (NWS ), GE-owned NBC (GE ), and Los Angeles billionaire Marvin Davis, who has an offer on the table for $15 billion for majority control of the entire set of assets.
SCHMOOZE AND SANITY. All this makes things a little tough on Ron Meyer, the one-time Hollywood talent agent who has run Universal Studios since Edgar Bronfman hired him in August, 1995. Meyer is considered one of Hollywood's good guys, with the ability to schmooze stars and white-hot directors, and maintain sanity when things turn nutty. The buzz has Meyer at odds with USA Interactive (USAI ) Chairman Barry Diller, who serves as co-CEO of Vivendi's Hollywood assets. Sources say Diller has slashed budgets and reined in expenses, and more than a few top executives are rumored to be on the way out.
Meyer says not so. Dressed in black jeans, an oversized black sweater, and white Keds, Universal's top guy tries his best to downplay any notion of unrest at the studio. He says there's no truth to the rumor -- which he just heard himself -- that he was headed to Sony (SNE ) to head its film unit.
Also, Meyer says "there's no mass exodus" and he and Diller are getting along just fine. "Barry and I have been friends for 20-odd years, and we're still friends," he says, adding that the two men often lunch together and jointly hosted a dinner when Vivendi Universal Chairman Jean-Rene Fourtou was in town several weeks back. As for producers with hot projects steering clear of the studio, Meyer says he hasn't seen any evidence of it.
25% LESS MONEY. Still, Meyer admits that Universal will be forced to cut back on how much it spends to make films. He won't comment on how much money was removed from his 2003 budget, but knowledgeable insiders say he has $225 million less this year to spend on making and marketing movies, a reduction of about 25%. This despite Universal churning out such outsize hits last year as The Bourne Identity and 8 Mile, which had a combined worldwide gross of about $410 million.
For 2003, Vivendi Universal Entertainment's overall operating income increased by only 2%, to $7.5 billion, the company said when it announced its numbers on Mar. 6. "We didn't have as good a year as the year before," says Meyer. "It's appropriate to cut back."
Moreover, Meyer says he made the budget cuts with Diller and didn't have them imposed on him. Those reductions, say knowledgeable sources, also include a 25% drop in the $56 million that Universal spent on bonuses last year. Meyer says he doesn't expect many layoffs among his 5,000-person workforce and intends to make cuts by "combining functions" in departments rather than slashing the amounts that Universal spends to make and market its films. "There are ways to economize," he says, without elaborating. "We intend to be smarter about how we do business."
LINING UP PARTNERS. Still, Meyer says the studio plans to distribute the same number of films -- 15 to 18 per year -- that it typically does. To help maintain that pace, Meyer is being forced to sell off the foreign rights to some future films -- a practice that other cash-strapped studios have resorted to in the past.
He has already done so for Universal's upcoming Helldorado, starring wrestler The Rock, to Sony. He brought in Dreamworks and Spyglass Films to help finance the Jim Carrey comedy Bruce Almighty. Meyer even contemplated getting a partner for Universal's big summer film The Hulk but decided against it, he says. To strengthen its lineup, the studio is spending some money -- it bought an interest in Peter Pan from Sony Pictures. "We want to make films as intelligently as possible," he says.
Lowering its risk profile will no doubt help keep Universal in the filmmaking business, but it won't stop the rumor mill from churning. "Everyone is anxious to know what the future is for this company. We read about it all the time," he says. "We know that there are some buyers circling, and sooner or later one of them may buy us." But despite Meyer's insistance that all is well, it's hardly all quiet on the Universal front.
http://money.cnn.com/2003/03/19/news/companies/vivendi.reut/index.htm
Diller resigns from Vivendi
March 19, 2003: 1:59 PM EST
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Media mogul Barry Diller resigned Wednesday as chairman and CEO of Vivendi Universal's U.S.-based entertainment unit, moving the company one step closer to a decision on what to do with the division.
Paris-based Vivendi has been shedding assets as its pays down debt, and the U.S. film and television unit Diller led includes the Universal Pictures movie studio and USA and Sci Fi cable TV networks, considered among Vivendi's crown jewels.
Vivendi (V: up $0.29 to $15.09, Research, Estimates) had widely been expected to sell the unit or spin it off as a separate, publicly traded company with Diller possibly at the helm.
"My executive role was never intended to be permanent," Diller said. "Now that Vivendi Universal has begun a formal process in reviewing options for its entertainment assets, it is appropriate to step aside from any direct management responsibility."
Sources familiar with the situation said Diller has decided to focus his efforts on USA Interactive (USAI: down $2.25 to $24.24, Research, Estimates), the collection of Internet companies he runs and controls as chairman and chief executive officer.
The sources said Diller would have been much more likely to achieve a Vivendi Universal Entertainment spinoff by working inside the company than outside.
"What this tells me is that he's essentially given up doing anything with VUE," one source said. "He sees it as a huge distraction."
Others still were unsure exactly what Diller's motives were. One London-based analyst who asked not to be identified said the move was "not surprising," because the market has known for months that the VUE assets would be sold.
"But it does raise a number of possibilities," the analyst said. "Firstly, he could be distancing himself from VUE because he wants to make a bid for those assets; alternatively, he knew that Vivendi was going to exit this business anyway, so he just decided to go now rather than later."
Separately, in a conference call to discuss USA Interactive's acquisition of the remaining portion of Expedia Inc. (EXPE: up $7.40 to $46.30, Research, Estimates) it does not own, Diller said USA did not have any intention of making an offer to Vivendi about acquiring the VUE assets.
"We have no intention of making a proposal," Diller said, adding later, "Frankly, we're in a fine position doing essentially nothing."
http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/mar2003/nf20030320_0711_db039.htm
MARCH 20, 2003
Why Did Diller Quit His "Night Job"?
The mogul likely resigned as CEO of Vivendi's Hollywood unit to make a bid for it. However, bidding and winning are two different things
For a guy who says he's not interested in owning a movie studio, former Hollywood mogul Barry Diller seems intent on proving otherwise. On Mar. 19, the chairman of electronic retailer USA Interactive (USAI ) resigned as chairman and chief executive of Vivendi Universal Entertainment, or VUE, which is the Hollywood unit of French parent Vivendi Universal (V ). That immediately prompted speculation that the onetime head of the Fox and Paramount studios was preparing a bid for VUE.
Not so, according to Diller, who says he had "no ambitions" to buy the studio. But he allows that, with USA owning a 5.4% stake in VUE, "if there is some opportunity which translates these assets into a greater value, we'll look at it."
Several sources close to the man himself say Diller is very much interested in buying VUE -- only he doesn't think he can get it. As a result, Diller doesn't want to be outmaneuvered, as he was in 1994, when Viacom (VIA ) Chairman Sumner Redstone outbid Diller's QVC shopping channel to buy Paramount Communications. So, Diller is in -- sort of, it seems.
PACKAGE DEAL. The conventional wisdom is that Diller is allied with cable baron John Malone and his Liberty Media (L ), which would help bankroll a bid for the Vivendi assets that which Diller would then run. But scores of other potential bidders are around, although only one, Los Angeles financier Marvin Davis, is so far announced.
With former Universal Studio President Brian Mulligan orchestrating his bid, Davis, who owned Twentieth Century Fox in the early '80s, would offer around $15 billion for a 60% stake in the entire company, which includes Universal's film studio as well as its theme parks, music company, and its USA, Sci-Fi, and other cable channels. Davis, who has backing from Texas financier David Bonderman and investment bankers at Carlyle Group, has met at least twice with Vivendi Chairman Jean-Rene Fourtou. Since then, Davis and Mulligan have been mostly on hold while the French contemplate their next move.
And that move could be very interesting indeed. Sources close to Vivendi say the French company recently gave its internal numbers for the entertainment unit to Redstone, Diller's old nemesis. Redstone's Viacom already owns MTV, Black Entertainment, and the The National Network cable channels, and he wants to buy Vivendi's cable channels as well and is willing to bid as much as $8 billion for them.
IN THE CIRCUIT. Viacom may also make a bid to buy the Universal film studio, which appears to be worth around $3 billion, and then merge it with its own Paramount studio, slashing overhead while hanging onto its large film library. Redstone has no interest in the Universal theme parks in Orlando, Los Angeles, Spain, and Japan, and would either leave them or buy them and turn around and sell them to the merchant bank Blackstone Group, which already owns a 50% stake in the theme-park units. Redstone would most likely be forced to jettison the music unit so that competing labels would continue to provide music videos to MTV.
Then there's General Electric (GE ), which only recently has emerged as a serious bidder for some of the Vivendi assets. GE, which last year bought the Bravo Channel and earlier acquired the Telemundo Hispanic TV network, wants to add to its arsenal of TV properties and is said to covet Vivendi's USA, SciFi, and Trio channels. GE's NBC unit would also love to have control over the profitable Law & Order franchise, which Universal produces for the Peacock network.
One problem, though. According to insiders, GE doesn't like the volatility of the studio business and, like Redstone, doesn't want the theme parks or music company. Then there are Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. (NWS ) and MGM (MGM ), both of which wouldn't mind the cable channels and would likely also bid on the studios and merge them with their own film operations to reduce overhead.
STAR POWER. Diller of course knows he would have a lot of likely competition for Vivendi's choice assets. "One thing Diller doesn't like to do is engage in a bidding war," says one longtime associate. "Barry likes to steal assets, and there isn't much to steal in this particular game." True enough -- Vivendi is still smarting over the clock-cleaning that Diller administered to then-Vivendi Chairman Jean-Marie Messier, selling him the USA and other cable channels for $11 billion in a deal that today would be lucky to fetch $8 billion.
So is Diller speaking plainly when he says he's leaving what he once called his "night job" -- overseeing Vivendi -- so that he can devote his full attention to USA Interactive? Could be. Perhaps it's only a coincidence, but the same day Diller resigned from Vivendi, USAI also announced a $3.3 billion deal to buy the remaining 46% of the travel site Expedia (EXPE ) that it didn't already own. Diller says he would be happy just to make USAI an electronic retailing powerhouse.
Why not? His 40.9 million shares of that company are worth nearly $1.1 billion. But that's money. The glamour is about Hollywood. And so's the chase. For Barry Diller, both seem to have endless appeal.
VU preens for bidder pool
May 29, 2003
NEW YORK -- Vivendi Universal's latest regularly scheduled board meeting here Wednesday may have yielded little immediate news, but it kicked off the hot phase of the sales process for the conglomerate's entertainment assets. Over the next two weeks, Vivendi Uni executives will make management presentations to a pool of interested parties in Los Angeles and New York, according to sources. The pool includes oil billionaire Marvin Davis, longtime Vivendi Uni vice chairman Edgar Bronfman Jr., Viacom Inc., John Malone's Liberty Media, General Electric's NBC and MGM. Sources said the management presentations, which will include question-and-answer sessions, will show how many parties are indeed serious about submitting a bid and for which properties. Vivendi Uni still hasn't set an official deadline yet but has indicated it roughly expects to get offers by the end of next month.
Digger
04-01-2003, 01:15 PM
Hi Maggs! Welcome to the board! The answer to your question is "we don't really know". There are quite a few good signs, however that it could be good for us. For example:
1. Viacom has expressed their desire to own the SciFi Channel. They have been good to genre programs in the past (Buffy, Star Trek etc) and might look more favorably on Farscape than Vivendi did (Michael Jackson and Barry Diller were known to not be fans of "space dramas" . What they were doing running a science fiction channel is another question entirely). Also, Viacom owns UPN and at the beginning of this campaign we were told by someone who works for UPN that there was some interest in the show. We have been writing letters to Viacom, and some of the stations they own (UPN and Showtime expecially) asking them to pick up Farscape. So far they have not said no, which they did do when Firefly was cancelled. In this instance I think we all can agree that silence is indeed golden.
2. Vivendi Universal has been in a serious cash crunch for a year now, and it is well knows that they ordered all their subsidiaries to cut costs where they could. Farscape was perhaps the most expensive show SciFi produced, and so when the axe fell it was the most likely candidate to get whacked, especially when the ratings slipped slightly. Anyone who buys Vivendi Universal Entertainent (VUE) will obviously have a little money to spend and might have a different take on what constitutes a successful show.
This is as condensed as I could make my answer. I could go on for arns. But for me, the two main reasons Farscape was cancelled was (a) the change in direction that Michael Jackson wanted away from "space shows" and (b) the precarious financial position of Vivendi. A new owner would hopefully be the answer to both of these problems. If you want more detail on this there have been several threads devoted to the subject. Just do a search on Vivendi and or Viacom and you are likely to have reading material for days.
XweAponX
05-27-2003, 09:56 PM
1. Viacom has expressed their desire to own the SciFi Channel.
Yah... UPN (Viacom), even though liking to experiment with programming, has ALWAYS been true to it's #1 product, namely Star Trek.
This used to be true of Fox, but Under Fox, some good shows that had potential bit the dust (Space: Above and Beyond, Millenium, Harsh Reality, Dark Angel, The Lone Gunmen [Imagine a series finale where all the main cast gets killed off, hm, what does that remind you of).
The truth is, Sci Fi had a couple of really interesting shows that they canned (I-Man, G vs E, First Wave) even though they were cheesy they were entertaining.
But Farscape was the top of the food chain, quality wise. I do not really watch too much TV, but the highpoint of my week was Farscape whenever I could watch it, if it were not being Pre-empted by some dren or other.
It was up there with Star Trek: The Next Gen and Babylon 5, every episode being a mini-movie, all tying together a main theme, telling a story, that was not allowed to be told in fullness.
I hope, I really hope that Viacom is able to wrest Sci Fi from Vivendi, Vivendi needs to go bankrupt!
'Nuff Sed!
:)
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