CBS (CBS), Viacom (VIAB) Should Recombine Nearly a Decade Later - WSJ

The Wall Street Journal speculated over the weekend that content companies CBS (NYSE: CBS) and Viacom (NASDAQ: VIA) (NASDAQ: VIAB) should consider merging amid consolidations among the pay-TV companies, including Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA) deal for Time Warner Cable, Inc. (NYSE: TWC) and AT&T's (NYSE: T) deal for DirecTV (NYSE: DTV).

While there are no signs of a deal currently, the Journal contends that the media landscape has changed considerably since Sumner Redstone split the two companies in 2005.

A deal would give CBS the stability of Viacom's cable affiliate fees. Meanwhile, Viacom would get access to CBS's fast-growth, high-margin retransmission fees. Janney Capital analyst Tony Wible sees 19% accreation to CBS's 2015 earnings if they bought Viacom in an all-stock transactions.

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