SUMNER AND MEL TOLD
TO KISS AND MAKE UP

The board of directors at Viacom have instructed their two top execs to stop their feuding and get down to business, according to the L.A. Times.

Chairman/Chief Executive Sumner Redstone and President/COO Mel Karmazin have been battling over the last year for control of the world's second-largest entertainment giant.

The board told Karmazin to fulfill his contract, which expires at the end of next year, though the exec reportedly informed them he would not seek to renew his deal. Insiders were bracing this week for his departure after a tumultuous 20-month marriage that has created pressure on the company's stock and internal division within its management ranks.

Sources doubt the two could continue to co-exist peacefully for the next two years. The company's bylaws prevent Redstone from firing Karmazin without the approval of 14 of the board's 18 directors. Eight of the 18 directors are CBS appointees, presumably Karmazin backers, which would make his expulsion unlikely. In addition, as the N.Y. Post reports, the board finds it unacceptable not to have a successor in place for the 78-year-old Redstone, making them inclined to keep Karmazin, a Wall Street favorite, aboard.