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[thorns]

http://biz.yahoo.com/bizwk/041105/b3908094mz027_1.html

For most people, food tops their shopping list. For billionaire Sumner Redstone, it's a stock: Midway Games (NYSE:MWY - News). "I buy shares of Midway almost every day," says the Chairman and CEO of entertainment giant Viacom (NYSE:VIA - News). As of Nov. 1, Redstone himself owned 63.3 million shares. That's 75% of the maker of software for video games, played on platforms like PlayStation ®2, Xbox, and Game Boy. Mortal Kombat is its No. 1 game.

The $25 billion game business is "the fastest-growing in entertainment," notes Redstone, and it "will compete with TV -- for audiences and ads." So the networks "need to be in it," he argues. The talk is that he'll take Midway private -- or that Viacom or another company will acquire it. In August, Viacom formed a committee of independent directors to evaluate all possible deals with Midway.

What properties does Viacom have? I bet we're going to see them churn out licensed games like there is no tomorrow..

 

[WarPig]

SOOOOO OOOLLLDDDDD...

DFS.

 

[thorns]

Well the article was just posted, so maybe there has been some more news on that? who knows. he already owns 75% of the company anyway.

 

[Subitai]

Uh oh. THQ could lose all their deals for Nicktoon games.

Eh, maybe not. We could see a reality TV version of Unreal or new MK movies.


I wanna know why GE didn't take Vivendi's games division too when they bought the movie and TV stuff. I can't believe their financials were that bad, and it's not like the TV and movie stuff was in a position to be #1 or #2 in their markets.

 

[bishoptl]

Uh oh. THQ could lose all their deals for Nicktoon games.

...

CALABASAS HILLS, CA, October 25, 2004, - Nickelodeon, a division of Viacom Inc.’s (NYSE: VIA and VIA.B) MTV Networks, and THQ Inc. (NASDAQ:THQI) today announced that they have extended their long-standing master interactive licensing agreement through 2010. The exclusive worldwide partnership grants THQ rights to continue to publish games based on all existing and future animated TV and movie properties targeting kids ages 6-14 across all viable game systems.

“Since the inception of our partnership in 1998, THQ and Nickelodeon have pioneered kids gaming, releasing six number one titles and selling through more than 20 million units worldwide,” said Leigh Anne Brodsky, President, Nickelodeon and Viacom Consumer Products. “THQ has been a great partner to date and we look forward to building our videogame business into an even more important category for Nickelodeon.”

“As proud as we are of our many achievements over the years, we are even more excited about what the future of this partnership holds,” said Brian Farrell, President and CEO, THQ. “Nickelodeon’s ability to identify, develop and market the best content for kids is unparalleled. We are thrilled with the ongoing success of brands like SpongeBob SquarePants and our jointly developed ‘Tak’ property and look forward to growing our business with the launch of several new Nickelodeon properties including Barnyard and Danny Phantom.”

 

[WarPig]

I wanna know why GE didn't take Vivendi's games division too when they bought the movie and TV stuff.

Vivendi wanted too much for the games division, as I recall, given how valuable the Blizzard and Valve publishing deals are.

DFS.