CABLE GUY ON SEAGRAM, DISNEY

Advertising Age, June, 1998 by Johnson, Bradley

What about Hollywood whisperings that Barry Diller is in cahoots with DreamWorks to take over Universal Pictures? Diller already controls most of Universal's TV biz, but confidant John Malone doubts Diller is eyeing a movie deal. "I'd be very surprised if Barry did much in the movie area in the near term," Malone tells Adages.

The financial guru & TCI cable guy says now that Seagram has decided to spin out Tropicana in a public offering, it should separate the booze and Hollywood units to raise Seagram's worth on Wall Street. "Then, if Universal underperforms, there will be a lot of shareholder pressure to give it to Barry to run, or Spielberg," Malone surmises. On another score, Malone, uh, wonders if Disney will be sued over its new NFL deal. "I'm a little...

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