Unlike most surprise corporate departures, Diller’s decision wasn’t the result of a beheading or an illness. There are reports that Diller chafed at Fox owner Rupert Murdoch’s increasing presence on the lot, but Diller denies any friction. “There was zero. None,” he says. Having just turned 50, he says he just wants to run his own company. Adds producer Sandy Gallin: “He’s made billions upon billions for ABC, Paramount and Fox,” and now he “wants to run his own store.”
What that store will peddle is Hollywood’s current hot topic. The favored scenario? Diller, whose passion is television, will buy a network dinosaur such as NBC and make it young and hip like the Fox network he started in 1986. Diller is reportedly worth around $100 million, but any big acquisition would still require the backing of bankers. “If it’s possible to buy one of the networks and it made sense, he’d do it,” says entertainment mogul David Geffen, a possible Diller partner.
Other theories run more toward the return-and-purchase school. That is, he will try to buy the Fox Broadcasting Network from Murdoch’s parent News Corp., or make a bid for Paramount Communications, thus vanquishing his former boss Martin Davis. Diller, however, is mum. “Interesting conversations are taking place,” Diller told NEWSWEEK, “but there’s no real productivity in talking about it.” Diller added: “Part of the euphoria in this is that I don’t have [a timetable]. It’s enormously freeing.” Everyone is expecting that whatever Diller does next will have a huge impact. In 1984, when he left Paramount to go to Fox, it started a chain reaction that reshaped Hollywood. Diller protege Michael Eisner ended up going on to revive the then moribund Disney studio.
Another consuming question is what his move will mean to Fox, especially since Murdoch has named himself as Diller’s replacement. The company has strong managers in place, but Murdoch has said he intends to be a hands-on manager, which has raised some concern. But for now Murdoch, who didn’t return calls for comment, apparently endorses the network’s direction. For instance: expanding programming to seven nights from four nights a week. Murdoch will shuttle between New York and Los Angeles, overseeing his recovering but still shaky empire, which is saddled with more than $7 billion in debt.
Murdoch is “really optimistic,” says Joe Roth, chairman of the movie division, Twentieth Century Fox. “He sees [that) Fox Inc. is the center of his empire. He wants to be where the action is.” Certainly it is where the money is. The Fox network alone is expected to earn $40 million in the current fiscal year, and last year the movie division made $165 million. The betting is that Fox will continue to churn out those millions. What isn’t clear, as one analyst puts it, is whether investors will be willing to place their bets with a Fox without Diller.
title: “Diller S Hollywood Shuffle” ShowToc: true date: “2022-12-05” author: “Nicole Schindler”
Unlike most surprise corporate departures, Diller’s decision wasn’t the result of a beheading or an illness. There are reports that Diller chafed at Fox owner Rupert Murdoch’s increasing presence on the lot, but Diller denies any friction. “There was zero. None,” he says. Having just turned 50, he says he just wants to run his own company. Adds producer Sandy Gallin: “He’s made billions upon billions for ABC, Paramount and Fox,” and now he “wants to run his own store.”
What that store will peddle is Hollywood’s current hot topic. The favored scenario? Diller, whose passion is television, will buy a network dinosaur such as NBC and make it young and hip like the Fox network he started in 1986. Diller is reportedly worth around $100 million, but any big acquisition would still require the backing of bankers. “If it’s possible to buy one of the networks and it made sense, he’d do it,” says entertainment mogul David Geffen, a possible Diller partner.
Other theories run more toward the return-and-purchase school. That is, he will try to buy the Fox Broadcasting Network from Murdoch’s parent News Corp., or make a bid for Paramount Communications, thus vanquishing his former boss Martin Davis. Diller, however, is mum. “Interesting conversations are taking place,” Diller told NEWSWEEK, “but there’s no real productivity in talking about it.” Diller added: “Part of the euphoria in this is that I don’t have [a timetable]. It’s enormously freeing.” Everyone is expecting that whatever Diller does next will have a huge impact. In 1984, when he left Paramount to go to Fox, it started a chain reaction that reshaped Hollywood. Diller protege Michael Eisner ended up going on to revive the then moribund Disney studio.
Another consuming question is what his move will mean to Fox, especially since Murdoch has named himself as Diller’s replacement. The company has strong managers in place, but Murdoch has said he intends to be a hands-on manager, which has raised some concern. But for now Murdoch, who didn’t return calls for comment, apparently endorses the network’s direction. For instance: expanding programming to seven nights from four nights a week. Murdoch will shuttle between New York and Los Angeles, overseeing his recovering but still shaky empire, which is saddled with more than $7 billion in debt.
Murdoch is “really optimistic,” says Joe Roth, chairman of the movie division, Twentieth Century Fox. “He sees [that) Fox Inc. is the center of his empire. He wants to be where the action is.” Certainly it is where the money is. The Fox network alone is expected to earn $40 million in the current fiscal year, and last year the movie division made $165 million. The betting is that Fox will continue to churn out those millions. What isn’t clear, as one analyst puts it, is whether investors will be willing to place their bets with a Fox without Diller.
