Thirty years after getting squeezed out in an epic battle for control of Paramount Pictures, Barry Diller appears to be trying again. The 82-year-old media titan is among the suitors who have expressed interest in buying the Redstone family’s Massachusetts-based holding firm, National Amusements Inc., which controls the voting shares of media company Paramount Global, according to two knowledgeable people who were not authorized to comment publicly.
Paramount Global includes the historic Hollywood studio, broadcast network CBS and a collection of cable TV channels such as MTV and Nickelodeon. Back in 1994, media mogul Sumner Redstone famously triumphed over Diller in a hard-fought bidding war for control of the Melrose Avenue film studio. Redstone ultimately paid $10 billion for the asset, which many in the industry (including some of Redstone’s own executives) believed was way too steep.
Redstone’s media company, then known as Viacom, then bought Blockbuster video chain for its cash flow that the company needed to service the debt on the Paramount purchase. Diller, who had run Paramount in the 1970s — overseeing a period of growth and acclaimed movies — withdrew from the bidding with a characteristic shrug. The mogul went on to run Universal, before making a fortune by building a formidable digital media businesses, IAC.
The New York Times first reported Diller’s interest in National Amusements. Other potential buyers have also surfaced in recent months, making o.