Another Tom bites the dust.

Not that there was much doubt, but last week's ouster of Viacom Inc.'s Chief Executive Tom Freston makes clear how much importance the media giants are attaching to the digital world.

There is more than a tittle irony in the firing of Freston, who was one of the masterminds behind MTV, a cutting-edge concept when it was launched 25 years. Viacom Chairman Sumner Redstone, who recently axed Tom Cruise, told reporters that he was particularly frustrated that Viacom and Freston had whiffed on the chance to acquire MySpace.com. The social networking site "was there for the taking" he said, before it was purchased by Viacom rival News Corp. Brad Greenspan, the founder of MySpace, has confirmed that, saying that News Corp.'s Rupert Murdoch clearly outmaneuvered Viacom during negotiations for the site.

Freston was replaced by Philippe P. Danman and Thomas E. Dooley, Viacom board members seen as more merger-and-acquisition specialist than overseers. That arrangement is fueling Wall Street speculation that Viacom will be looking for a new partner.

One of the more intriguing matches would be Yahoo Inc., according to Robert Routh, an entertainment analyst at Jeffries & Co. Not only does the online titan lack a major media content partner, but Redstone is close to Yahoo Chief Executive Terry Semel, who with former co-chair Bob Daly, guided Warner Bros.' film operation to 20 years of profitability.

Staff reporter Dan Cox can be reached at [e-mail] or at [phone], ext. 230.