ENTERTAINMENT MEGA-MERGER : Winners AND Losers

For some, it’s a time for champagne. For others, the party is over. Here’s a look at where the power players stand, now that the Paramount deal is done.

WINNERS Sumner Redstone:

Viacom chief vowed that nothing short of an atomic bomb going off would stop the deal. The only explosions now are Champagne corks popping.

Lazard Freres’ Felix Rohatyn:

Paramount’s blue chip investment banker looked pretty bad when a Delaware court blew Paramount’s friendly merger with Viacom out of the water. But they escaped with their skin--and some handsome fees, no doubt.

Smith Barney:

Even if it wasn’t pretty, Redstone’s investment bankers helped guide him to victory.

H. Wayne Huizenga:

Cut a savvy deal just when Viacom needed him most, allowing him to get a good deal in a merger before technology rewinds his video rental business. Some Blockbuster shareholders think he should have held out for more. Will he stay, or launch yet another new venture?

Frank Biondi:

Viacom’s second-in-command emerges a victor as well. Could he eventually be eclipsed by Blockbuster Chairman H. Wayne Huizenga?

Losers:

Barry Diller:

Clock runs out on QVC bid, just like on one of his home shopping channel’s cubic zirconia jewelry offers. Stanley Jaffe:

Savaged by the Wall Street Journal as a screaming nose bleeder (and detailed in Variety as a guy who practices growling in front of a mirror), the Paramount president will probably be heading for the exits before the credits finish rolling.

Martin Davis:

The Paramount chairman would have been second in command under the friendly merger with Viacom. Look for him to bail out with a $150 million parachute. Herbert Allen Jr.:

Hollywood’s investment banker/matchmaker had better luck marrying off MCA to Japan’s Matsushita.

QVC’s backers:

BellSouth, Cox Enterprises and Advance Publications see their Hollywood dream die - for now, at least.