Viacom's Big Bath

摘要

In a final farewell to former President Mel Karmazin, Viacom took an $18 billion write-off on the value of Infinity Broadcasting Corp., the radio and billboard company he had founded and ultimately sold to the media giant. Viacom blamed the huge charge against earnings in the fourth quarter to the weak market, acknowledging that they were carried on the its books as worth far more than today's market value. Viacom was not alone. Clear Channel Communications took a similar $4.9 billion charge against its radio assets. The charges are bookkeeping entries against "goodwill," or the difference between an asset's purchase price and its book value. Accountants re- cord this as a "write-off." Revenues and operating cash flow are not affected.