Viacom Faces Midlife Crisis as Nobody Wants Their MTV

Businessweek: Concerns about chief Sumner Redstone’s health persist, in part because he isn’t defending Viacom as he always has. While CBS is thriving, Viacom, which includes 23 cable-TV networks and Paramount Pictures, is in trouble. This season, ratings have declined by double digits at Viacom’s most popular cable networks, including Comedy Central, BET, VH1, Nickelodeon, Spike and TV Land. At flagship MTV, prime-time ratings are down 25 percent in the 18- to 34-year-old demo the network targets. “The changes are hitting Viacom harder than virtually any traditional media company on the planet.”