Dooley to quit Viacom

Tom Dooley, interim CEO of US media conglomerate Viacom, is leaving the company in November.

Dooley was promoted to replace president and CEO Philippe Dauman in August, following the latter’s long-running legal stand-off with the company’s controlling Redstone family.

The long-serving Viacom exec took on responsibility for the media group’s assets such as MTV, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, Paramount Pictures and Channel 5 in the UK. He will leave on November 15.

“While this was a difficult decision for me, I have great admiration for our new board and I feel that they will be best able to execute on their vision for the company in the hands of a new president and CEO,” Dooley said in statement.

“I am certain that the board will make the most of the company’s extraordinary potential.”

Viacom also said it would suspend plans to find a minority investor for its movie studio Paramount Pictures and would also be cutting its dividend in half.

The disagreement began when Dauman raised questions over 93-year-old Sumner Redstone’s ability to manage his own affairs and proposed a sell-off of Paramount Pictures.