CBS and Viacom Would Be Good for Each Other

Whenever CBS-Viacom merger speculation surfaces, the conversation tends to flow toward why this deal would be so beneficial for the ratings-challenged Viacom and how CBS would be stuck with the burden of having to fix it. But the fact is, a deal would be good for CBS, too.

On Wednesday afternoon came reports that the Redstone family, which controls CBS and Viacom through their holding company National Amusements, is requesting that both boards establish independent committees to consider a merger. No surprise there. Sumner Redstone, the now 93-year-old ailing billionaire, split CBS and Viacom into separate companies about a decade ago. As I've written before, the breakup was a smart move at the time, but given the changes happening in the industry, it makes increasing sense to reunite the businesses (explained further in the video at the end of the story).