MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

Viacom May Open Retail Stores: Sumner Redstone, the Viacom chairman and controlling shareholder, said the company is studying a plan to enter the retail business to sell products bearing the MTV and Nickelodeon names popularized by Viacom’s cable TV networks. Redstone noted that 1,200 Nickelodeon products are already licensed in the consumer marketplace. Also, Redstone confirmed a published report that the company has been approached by telephone companies to discuss various business combinations, but he added, “We don’t want to sell out our cable interests.” While the company has not ruled out a “mega-deal” with other entertainment or media companies, Redstone said, such deals “are not essential to our growth.”