• by Paul Gough , June 1, 2004

Viacom moved quickly to replace the departing Mel Karmazin, promoting the company's two top television executives as co-presidents.

Tom Freston of MTV Networks and Leslie Moonves of CBS will take the reins as co-presidents and co-chief operating officers, sharing the position that Karmazin held on his own until his abrupt resignation was announced this morning. Freston and Moonves will report to Chairman Sumner Redstone, whose relationship with their predecessor was stormy at times.

But there was none of that evident this morning, when Redstone spoke to Wall Street analysts in a conference call to discuss the changes at the top of Viacom. The New York-based multimedia conglomerate seemed to be taken surprise by Karmazin's departure, which is effective immediately. Karmazin was always a vocal force at Viacom corporate events like conference calls with the media where Redstone usually stays in the background. But Karmazin wasn't there today.

Redstone said he wasn't sure why Karmazin quit, echoing the corporate line "for personal and professional reasons." But he thanked Karmazin for his "enormous" contributions in the four years since Viacom and CBS merged.

"Nobody asked Mel to resign. I did not ask Mel to resign nor did any executive of Viacom," Redstone told both analysts and journalist Tuesday morning. Redstone said he was told by another executive that Karmazin was "frustrated," primarily about Viacom's stock price and the performance of Infinity Broadcasting, which Karmazin ran for so many years before becoming president of CBS.

"It was his decision and his alone," Redstone said of his resignation. Karmazin hasn't made a statement beyond the few lines from the Viacom news release that hit the wire Tuesday morning.

Karmazin isn't bound by a non-compete contract. Viacom wouldn't disclose how much he would be paid but Redstone said it would be "under terms consistent with his contract and consistent with a great executive who performed great service to a great company."

In contrast to the sometimes strained relationship with Karmazin, Redstone took pains to identify Freston and Moonves as personal friends of his and each other.

"Les and Tom are the exact right choices to take Viacom to the next level of performance," Freston said.

Freston will continue to be responsible for MTV Networks - though whether he will remain at the head of MTV Networks won't be decided for a week or two, Freston said - and will be responsible for Showtime, BET Paramount Parks, Simon & Schuster and the motion picture operations of Paramount Pictures. Moonves will continue to be responsible for CBS and UPN, as well as Paramount TV, Infinity Broadcasting and Viacom Outdoor.