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Another move by Viacom Chairman Sumner Redstone is raising eyebrows.
No, the 89-year-old media mogul did not order his MTV unit to shoot another pilot for a no-name girl rock band he’s sweet on.
Redstone’s surprise move yesterday was to nominate TV journalist Deborah Norville to the Viacom board.
Norville, the host of “Inside Edition,” has no experience running international media conglomerates or in business or technology.
She is married to high-profile Swedish banker Karl Wellner.
“It’s a dual-class company [and] he has voting control,” said Charles Elson, chair at the John L. Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance in Delaware. “It doesn’t matter who they are — it’s his board.”
Also appointed to the board yesterday was Cristiana Falcone Sorrell, the accomplished wife of deep-pocketed ad man Martin Sorrell, the chief executive of WPP, which controls global marketing spending of $66.7 billion. She is also an adviser to the chairman of the World Economic Forum on Media.
Both were elected by the board immediately after the annual meeting without shareholder approval.
“These are two passive, not strong board members,” commented one high-level media executive.
But Elson saw problems with the process.
“This is completely inappropriate and would be considered in any other company problematic,” he added.
Another source said: “The role of director is to monitor management, and they don’t fit the bill.”
The new appointees bring the board total to 13, from 11.
Redstone is known for erratic decision-making. He once put a gal pal, Rohini Singh, on the payroll at Showtime, owned by CBS, which he controls.
In 2010, he insisted MTV create a reality show for a girl band, “Electric Barbarellas,” with which he was smitten.
Viacom shares closed yesterday at $61.24, down 0.9 percent.