$72M GOLDEN PARACHUTE FOR DAUMAN, AS VIACOM BOARD APPLIES BAND-AIDS TO GAPING WOUNDS

Viacom’s board on Thursday approved an arrangement with Phillippe Dauman giving up his role as CEO but remaining as non-Executive Chairman until 9/13, when he will leave with a $72 million payout, Deadline Hollywood reported.

COO Tom Dooley was anointed interim CEO until 9/30, the end of the company’s fiscal year, and could wind up with the gig permanently—or as permanently as it gets in a company headed by Sumner Redstone. The board will expand to 15 with the addition of five candidates Redstone has proposed and the subtraction of Dauman.

Dauman had accused Shari Redstone of manipulating her 93-year-old father in an effort to seize power, an allegation she vigorously denied. But Dauman and Shari were said to have been cordial and complementary of each other in the board’s phone meeting Thursday night, according to Deadline’s sources. Sumner, who has difficulty speaking, was on the call but didn’t say much, if anything.

Investors have grown weary of the fight, which has effectively frozen Viacom at a time when its cable networks and Paramount are struggling. Ratings drops have been especially precipitous at Comedy Central and MTV. The stock has lost nearly half of its value during the past two years, while the best Paramount could come up with this year was Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows.