Viacom's Transformer

摘要

Recesssions can be a mixedrnbag for entertainment conglomer-ates. On the plus side, cash-strapped consumers often favor "staycations" over exotic trips - and thus arernmore likely to go to the movies or watch TV. But recessionary down-sides abound too: Those same consumers usually ride herd on discretionary spending, which means they buy fewer DVDs and video games. And woe to the companies overly reliant on advertisers.rnPhilippe Dauman, CEO of New York-based entertainment giant Viacom, isn't mincing words about the impact of the current downturn. " Overall the recession's been a drag," says Dauman, a Viacom veteran who left in 1999 to start his own private equity firm but returned as chief executive in 2006.