Viacom Split Complete
Viacom Inc. rang in the New Year with the announcement that it officially completed its division into two publicly traded entities—CBS Corp. and “New” Viacom Inc.—plans for which the company had announced in June 2005.
Simon & Schuster, the company’s publishing arm and an international publisher of books and multimedia products that publishes some 2,000 titles annually, is now a property of CBS Corp., along with CBS Television Network, UPN, Infinity Broadcasting, Viacom Outdoor, Viacom Television Stations Group, Paramount Television, King World, Showtime and Paramount Parks.
New Viacom will own MTV Networks (which includes Nickelodeon, VH1, Country Music Television and TV Land, among others), BET, Paramount Pictures, Paramount Home Entertainment and Famous Music.
The company announced the appointment of George (Toby) Nelson as senior vice president and treasurer for New Viacom.
Simon & Schuster was founded in 1924 by Richard (Dick) L. Simon and M. Lincoln (Max) Schuster, and published the first crossword puzzle book ever. Today, its six divisions encompass imprints such as Scribner, PocketBooks and Aladdin Paperbacks.
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