The media company took a $785 million charge for its fiscal second quarter, more than half of which was due to an epic write-down of under-performing programming. There are no cash outlays from these write-downs, of course. But they show how uncertain the TV environment is and how a variety of factors — cord-cutting, Netflix’s popularity, the fading of reruns, the fast-paced changes in which genres are popular — can turn what seemed like a spectacular programming bet into an awful one.
via The Cost of Viacom’s Programming Woes – CMO Today – WSJ.