Viacom's Sumner Redstone Calls Philip Dauman "The Wisest Man He Has Ever Known"

From Forbes:

Viacom's Redstone Calls Dauman "The Wisest Man He Has Ever Known"

The image of the 58 year old CEO of Viacom, Philip Dauman being deferential to the 88 year old founder of Viacom, Sumner Redstone, pervaded the aura of Viacom’s recent annual meeting.

Dauman assured the empire builder at the company’s annual meeting in New York that his creation, Viacom, was “relentless in knowing our audience,” and that the television and movie giant’s mantra was ” A Passion To Win,” the title of Redstone’s autobiography, published some years ago. That “passion to win” had multiplied Viacom’s common stock 350% higher over the past 3 years– magnifying the Redstone family net worth to many more billions than it had been– from $15 a share in January, 2009 to $53 today.

No wonder Redstone is reported by an insider to always describe Dauman on calls with stock analysts as “the wisest man he has ever known.”

At the annual meeting at Viaccom headquarters in Times Square, Redstone, who lives alone in his Beverly Hills mansion, focused on the screen displaying Viacom’s results for 2011, as Dauman took everyone through the way Paramount, MTV, Nickelodeon, Viacom Media Networks Comedy Central, Paramount Channels, BET Networks and the Music and Logo Group expanding globally. He insisted that every one of these Viacom brands is aiming to develop new programming, films and experiences “across media platforms”... in an “increasingly seamless way.”

This is the new entertainment model; make entertainment and social media intersect in the creation of content that can be distributed in a manner that drives values larger at Viacom. And go global “relentlessly.”

I bet you didn’t know that Geordie Shore is MTV’s adaptation for the UK market of the bonanza called “Jersey Shore,” Or that Nickelodeon's Spongebob will be a Paramount movie in 2014. Or that there will be an expansion of distribution in Viacom content on Netflix, Hulu and Amazon. Then, there’s to be an additional multi-platform premium motion picture service named EPIX bringing content to you through interactive tv and 3D.

Yes, Dauman assured shareholders, of whom Redstone’s privately owned National Amusements is by far the largest, the ratings for Viacom programs directed at teens and young adults is growing at a double digit pace.

“Social media are a big part of this effort,” Dauman explained. “Our networks, shows, and stars live at the intersection of entertainment and social media where they drive the cultural conversation. We’re leveraging that conversation as a powerful promotional vehicle for our programming and brands, and as an emerging outlet for content distribution.”

Just today Viacom announced that the new Paramount TV network would launch its greatest hit movies like The Godfather across 9 genres, starting with Spain. It also announced a future movie with singer Kay Perry of the blue hair.

Anybody across the globe can now find a schedule of all Viacom's offerings anywhere in the globe, a kind of virtual programming bulletin. Find out when Titanic is coming in 3D or when G.I. Joe: Retaliation is coming to the global franchise.

Coming soon; 6 new Comedy Channels in addition to the 14 “we already have outside the United States. Can even the ”relentless” passionate Redstone keep with all this?