*Bad reviews on Viacom

Sumner Redstone listens to what Wall Street has to say, so he can't be very pleased with the reaction so far this morning on his ouster of Viacom CEO Tom Freston (Viacom owns Paramount). He is being replaced by Redstone confidant Philippe Dauman. Here is a sampler of analyst comments, courtesy of WSJ.com:

Jessica Reif Cohen, Merrill Lynch: This change is unexpected and is not likely to be well-received by the Street or the creative community. Mr. Freston had spent over 25 years with MTV and was a key figure in building it into one of the premier entertainment franchises globally. Mr. Dauman and Mr. Dooley, both of whom currently serve on Viacom's board of directors, are confidants of Viacom Chairman Sumner Redstone, but do not have significant experience in running a major entertainment company.

Katherine Styponias, Prudential: While Mr. Freston's track record [after the CBS] split with Viacom earlier this year may have come into question, we find what is effectively his dismissal very surprising. It is widely acknowledged that Mr. Freston built what MTV is today; but the issues that are afflicting Viacom (namely, concerns about slower cable network ad growth) are more industry-wide than company-specific. While Mr. Dauman has had lots of experience working at Viacom, he does not have the operating experience that Mr. Freston has and has not been involved in the media world in a significant way for seven years.

Spencer Wang, Bear Stearns: We are surprised by this announcement and somewhat disappointed, as we view Tom Freston as a very strong operator with a very solid track record. It is unclear what prompted his resignation, although it is possible that this may reflect fallout from the Tom Cruise controversy. We do not believe that it signals a deterioration in business fundamentals. In fact, we continue to believe that Viacom is on track to meet or beat Street estimates in 2006 and 2007.

Kristina Sazama, J.P. Morgan credit analyst: We view Viacom's leadership change [as] a modest positive for the credit. Viacom's stock has been under pressure due to a lack of a clear financial strategy, and Tom Freston has not been very active communicating with the Street. We think the leadership change provides an opportunity for the company to clarify both its strategic and financial strategies going forward.

A little after noon, Viacom stock was down more than 4.5 percent on the day. By the way, many of the stories this morning point to Freston not buying MySpace as a possible reason behind his ouster. Well, maybe, but you didn't hear Redstone moaning about the missed opportunity. Actually, here's what he said of his Viacom CEO less than a month ago:

"I, for one, am very encouraged by the progress we have made financially and operationally, particularly in moving our powerful brands to promising new platforms," Redstone said, later adding that "the way Tom and I look at it, at least for the time being, we like the company exactly as it is."

For whatever its worth, Redstone said in a conference call that that Freston's firing had nothing to do with the Tom Cruise firing. Rumors about more management changes are in the air.

*Update: Speaking of Brad Grey: Defamer gets a hold of the email he sent the troops today at Paramount. I love the part about everybody working together.