Billionaire Tisch Blamed For Cbs’ Fall

While many factors caused the decline of CBS, much of the blame inevitably is traced to billionaire investor Laurence Tisch.

Tisch, who gained control of the company in 1986, has presided over CBS’s tumble to No. 3 from No. 1 in the television rankings. The Tiffany network’s once acclaimed news division, where Tisch made aggressive cuts, lost loyal viewers. It lost its rights to broadcast National Football League games. Affiliate stations, fed up with CBS’s fare, defected.

So what happened?

“Tisch ran the company like a 19th century business,” said Jeffery Rayport, an assistant business professor at Harvard who specializes in media and communications. “He said, ‘We’ll maintain bricks and mortar but we won’t invest in software.’ ABC said it will invest in software - in the content - because that’s what drives everything else.”

The difference is most striking in the pricetags: Walt Disney Co. is paying $19 billion for Capital Cities. CBS is fetching $5.4 billion.

Deals could influence hearings

By buying Capital Cities, Disney will become the first media company with a major presence in four key distribution channels: filmed entertainment, cable television, broadcasting, and - through its joint venture with three regional Bell operating companies - telephone wires.

This has raised concerns in Washington, where the House is expected to begin debating a major overhaul of the nation’s telecommunications laws today.