Viacom Inc. said Monday its board has approved a stock buyback program allowing the company that will control its cable networks and the Paramount movie studio once the CBS television business is split off to buy up to $3 billion of its own stock.
The program authorizes Viacom which will own MTV Networks, BET, Paramount Pictures, Paramount Home Entertainment and Famous Music to buy back its stock once Viacom splits itself into two publicly traded companies, set to occur before year-end.