SEAGRAM SETTLING USA CASE; VIACOM TO RECEIVE $1.7 BILLION.Byline: Geraldine Fabrikant The New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of Times After weeks of complex negotiations, Seagram Corp. has agreed to pay Viacom Inc. $1.7 billion for the 50 percent of cable programming service USA Network that it does not already own. The settlement, announced Monday, ends a nearly 2-year-old feud feud, formalized private warfare, especially between family groups. The blood feud (see vendetta) is characteristic of those societies in which central government either has not arisen or has decayed. between the two former partners. For Seagram, which owns Universal Studios, the accord gives it a badly needed presence in television. Seagram does not own either cable services or television stations, and analysts have said the company needs an outlet to ensure that it can distribute more of its own films and television programs. Viacom, which owns other cable networks, including MTV MTV in full Music Television U.S. cable television network, established in 1980 to present videos of musicians and singers performing new rock music. MTV won a wide following among rock-music fans worldwide and greatly affected the popular-music business. , VH1 and Nickelodeon, will use the proceeds from the sale to reduce its $10 billion in outstanding debt. By reaching an agreement, the two companies avoided having a Delaware judge resolve the dispute for them. Seagram sued Viacom in April 1996 in Delaware Chancery Court The Chancery Court of York is an ecclesiastical court for the Province of York of the Church of England. The presiding officer, the Official Principal and Auditor, has been the same person as the Dean of the Arches since the nineteenth century . , contending that Viacom's ownership of MTV and other programming services violated their partnership arrangement. Judge Myron T. Steele gave the companies until the end of September to resolve the dispute themselves, warning them that otherwise he would settle the case. The $1.7 billion price tag is about what analysts had expected. Earlier this year, Seagram rejected a $1.94 billion offer from Viacom to acquire Seagram's stake. Seagram stock rose 37.5 cents, to $35.56, Monday; shares of Viacom rose 6.25 cents, to $33.50. In addition to 50 percent of the USA Network, the deal also gives Seagram The Sci-Fi Channel, which is owned by USA Network and which has had robust recent growth. USA Network, whose cable programming includes ``Silk Stalkings Silk Stalkings is a 1990s TV crime drama originally shown on CBS in 1991 as part of the network's late-night Crimetime After Primetime programming package, and rebroadcast on the USA Network. ,'' professional wrestling Noun 1. professional wrestling - wrestling for money sport - the occupation of athletes who compete for pay rassling, wrestling, grappling - the sport of hand-to-hand struggle between unarmed contestants who try to throw each other down and reruns of ``Murder, She Wrote'' has about 73 million cable subscribers, while The Sci-Fi Channel has about 46 million subscribers. Frank Biondi Frank J. Biondi, Jr. (born January 9, 1945) is an American businessman. He was born in New York City to Frank Biondi, Sr. and Virginia Willis. He has a Bachelor of Arts degree from Princeton University and an Master of Business Administration degree from Harvard Business School. , chairman of Universal Studios, said Monday that he was confident USA Network could grow rapidly ``without breathing hard.'' He said the acquisition would increase the percentage of the entertainment division's profit from businesses with steady, predictable cash flow. Those include Universal's theme park and music businesses, and television production. Major film studios have sought to assure themselves distribution outlets for programming and are increasingly eager to either sell hit programs to their own cable services,. At Seagram, USA has agreed to buy the first-run hits ``Hercules: The Legendary Journeys'' and ``Xena: Warrior Princess The concept of warrior princesses is relatively new in fiction but it became increasingly popular with the feminist movement's successes in female empowerment, gradually pushing the stereotype of a "damsel in distress" to the background. .'' |
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