Entertaining splits, summer reading hits, and a celebrity throwing fits colored in the week that was.
Oh, no. Another splitting headache, thanks to MTV.
It's official. The same Viacom
The company retaining the Viacom moniker will offer investors the conglomerate's glitzier properties like MTV, Nickelodeon, and Comedy Central. The other appendage will be anchored by its CBS network, alongside steadier cash-flow producers like terrestrial radio and billboard advertising.
Since the company unloaded Blockbuster last year, it's been looking for ways to unlock shareholder value. Now if only Viacom knew where it put the key! Its collection of properties always seemed to make logistical sense, but the company was just too slow to connect the synergistic dots. Splitting the company in two won't alleviate the burden of fitting the pieces together. Really, it's just an admission of short-term failure, as the ultimate burden now shifts to the investors. They will have to decide which part of Viacom's split portrait is the one worth pocketing. Maybe it's both. Maybe it's none. But if you've always wanted your MTV, here's your chance.
Heavy books make for light summer reading
How eager are Harry Potter fans to get their hands on the sixth book in the young wizard's series? Well, even though the book is still weeks away from its July 16 release, the pre-orders keep piling up at Amazon.com
By teaming up with the U.S. Postal Service and UPS
Fee the world -- let them know it's eBay time again
In a rather nasty attack on the world's leading auction site, Live 8 organizer Bob Geldof called eBay
I'm a fan of Geldof the humanitarian. I'm even a fan of Geldof the musical artist. I'm that one person in America who knows a Boomtown Rats song other than "I Don't Like Mondays." So I can't understand why Geldof would lash out at eBay. At a time when he is trying to raise awareness of poverty in Africa, he comes down on the one company that has lined lots of pockets by simplifying the garage-sale process? Bah! Yes, eBay is a creator of wealth. And no, I'm not cynical enough to suggest that eBay is the solution to Africa's hungry citizens, but it certainly shouldn't be considered the culprit. Yes, it's a shame that free tickets to a music show have real value in the open market.... Wait a minute. That's not a shame at all. Ultimately, it would provide even more exposure for the festival itself. So what's the deal Geldof? Why do you want to shoo-hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo-hoot the whole eBay down?
The headlines behind this week's stories:
Until next week, I remain,
Amazon.com and eBay are Motley Fool Stock Advisor recommendations.
Longtime Fool contributor Rick Munarriz thinks he may have been called an electronic pimp before. He does not own shares in any of the companies in this story. The Foo l has a disclosure policy. He is also part of the Rule Breakers newsletter research team, seeking out tomorrow's ultimate growth stocks a day early.