Viacom stock may be as volatile as its executive team at the moment, but that’s not entirely a bad thing for investors.
At 9:30 a.m. ET on Monday, the U.S. stock markets officially opened. By 9:40, VIAB was actually trading up 4.26 percent from Friday’s close — that’s plus $1.66 per share.
Viacom shares finished the prior week at $39.05 apiece. All hell broke loose a few hours later among top management, as Chairman Emeritus Sumner Redstone removed company Chairman, President and CEO Philippe Dauman from the seven-person family trust that holds an 80 percent stake in both Viacom and CBS.
Since then, the in-fighting between Dauman/Viacom and the Redstone family has been nearly constant — and increasingly nasty.
Beyond unkind allegations traded through the press — mostly between Sumner’s daughter Shari Redstone and his French protege — Dauman and the also-ousted George Abrams filed a lawsuit on Monday morning challenging the decision to remove them as family trustees.
It’s been a wild ride for Viacom stockholders — and not an enjoyable one for the past 22 months as the share price has slipped to less than half of its level in July 2014 when the stock traded as high as $89.76. Read about VIAB’s recent stock history here.
Here’s this morning’s (very) early trading arc:
7 Fierce New Fall TV Match-Ups: 'Supergirl' vs. 'Big Bang,' 'Empire' vs. 'Frequency' (Photos)
Click through the following slides to find TheWrap's seven new fall broadcast TV match-ups worth keeping an eye on ...
Good news, bad news, "Supergirl": You have a new home on the lesser-viewed CW, but at least you get to stay on Monday nights! (And on TV.)
There's just one problem, however -- CBS still needs to program that hour, and as such, the Melissa Benoist vehicle must now start against TV's top comedy, the powerhouse "Big Bang Theory."
"Rosewood" Sans "Empire" vs. "Thursday Night Football":
"Rosewood" has proven to be a much-weaker performer without "Empire" behind it, so a move to Thursday and a "Bones" pairing could be quite problematic.
Plus, the Morris Chestnut procedural will also now have to contend with some "Thursday Night Football," which will be split between CBS and NBC. Good luck with that, Dr. Rosewood.
"Crazy Ex-Girlfriend" vs. The reality of Friday viewing:
"Crazy Ex-Girlfriend" performed pretty terribly in Nielsen TV ratings for its first year, which explains why the CW banished it to Fridays. The only problem is, that lowly viewed evening is likely to tank demo and overall eyeball numbers even further.
There's only so much the critics can do to keep a darling on the airwaves.
More bad news for the CW. New drama "Frequency" has been slotted for Wednesday nights at 9 p.m. Sound familiar, drama fans? That's because broadcast's top show in the 18-49 demographic, "Empire," owns that spot.
"Empire" skews young, which is exactly the type of viewers courted by the CW. Good luck to you, "Frequency" -- hope you like delayed viewing!
Neither "Conviction" nor "Timeless" feel like they have heads of steam following their trailers being unveiled at their networks' respective upfront presentations.
"Scorpion," however, is a proven commodity. With Fox and CW not scheduling national programming at 10 p.m., it'll be the battle of those dramas -- one that "Scorpion," even in a new time slot, should have no problem winning.
"Son of Zorn" is actually programmed in the right slot -- Sunday nights on Fox between "The Simpsons" and "Family Guy." Unfortunately, it -- like every other show that evening -- must contend with TV's top broadcast, "Sunday Night Football."
At least young males -- "Zorn's" target" -- don't like football. Oh, wait ...
CBS
