[reformed_democrat]

Other major media companies have announced they will follow suit, including Clear Channel, with a $15 billion to $25 billion write-down, and Vivendi Universal, with a $12.3 billion to $13.2 billion write-down.

Isn't Vivendi the parent company to the publisher(s) who gave Bill 'n Hill the multi-million dollar book deals? Also, I recall Vivendi being involved with the TV stations who used "moral message" situations in TV shows to side-step the Public Service Message requirement. (At some point during the Clinton era, it was mandated that all stations had to broadcast Public Service messages -- anti-drug, anti-smoking, etc. The stations involved claimed they did not have to run the Public Service Announcements because their dramas depicted situations delivering the same message -- a charcter says, "Dope is bad for you" qualified as the Public Service Announcement.)

Or maybe I've been reading too much FR before the coffee is ready . . .

[rohry]

Isn't Vivendi the parent company to the publisher(s) who gave Bill 'n Hill the multi-million dollar book deals?

I believe that it was Viacom, not Vivendi...