Redstone looks up. (Wide Angle).(Viacom's Sumner Redstone expects that media companies will have a stronger year)(Brief Article)

Video Business, January, 2003 by DiOrio, Carl

Viacom chief Sumner Redstone sees a rosy future. "The recession is over for media companies," he said at a West Coast investors conference last week. "The plain truth is [that] 2003 marks a threshold for global media and entertainment--a threshold to the next level of breakthrough financial performance." Redstone said the benefits also should be felt by News Corp.

and AOL Time Warner, among others. Suggesting that investors "identify those media companies that say no to absurd movie budgets or ill-conceived market forays or e-business models," Redstone said Viacom's Paramount was the "most consistent cash generator [among Hollywood majors], though it's true we didn't have a blockbuster this year."