Viacom Re-Ups Dauman Through 2016

Viacom President/CEO Philippe Dauman has gotten a new contract that will keep him atop the media company through December 2016, Viacom said Thursday.

His current contract was set to expire in December 2011.

Viacom's board cited the company's boost in cash flow, margins, and debt restructuring that have helped Viacom stock perform well in tough times.

Dauman's pay will continue to be tied primarily to performance metrics like shareholder return.

Dauman's current contract terms are not yet available, though they will be filed at the SEC. But according to a 2009 proxy statement, his total compensation in 2008 was $22,385,000. Only $2.5 million of that was in base salary, with $7,835,000 in a "target' bonus. His total cash compensation was $10,385,000. The additional $12 million was in the increased value of Viacom stock. The result was that 90% of his pay was attributed to performance-based compensation, or everything but the base salary.

Dauman has been president/CEO and a member of the board since 2006, and has been a director of the company since 1987. Before joining the company he was co-chairman and CEO of private equity firm DND Capital Partners, which specialized in media and telecommunications investments.

John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.