Viacom's Big Bet - Company Business and Marketing - Brief Article

In the week's biggest deal, Viacom acquired Black Entertainment Television for $3 billion in stock and debt financing. The buyout will combine BET's youth- and urban-focused Internet properties with Viacom's MTVi and Nickelodeon online holdings and pick up BET's TV and publishing businesses.

Cable networking chipmaker Broadcom extended its buying spree with its 11th acquisition this year, buying processor-chip developer SiByte for $1.2 billion in a stock deal that signifies an attempt by Broadcom to expand its data-networking holdings. The deal may include up to an additional $800 million in newly issued Broadcom stock contingent on performance goals.

As online coverage of the presidential elections prompted record-setting hit counts, both NBCi and CNN.com partnered with graphics and content-management companies to ensure their sites could handle the traffic. In other media news, Multex signed a four-year deal with Reuters.

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