The QVC Network CEO is "one of the savviest minds in the entertainment and retailing businesses," says BellSouth CEO John Clendenin, a partner in QVC's bid for Viacom.
And at only 52, Diller is hardly ready to retire. Indeed, some analysts think he'll try to resurrect a merger deal with Home Shopping Network. The two companies had an agreement to merge but scuttled it as the grinding war for Paramount Communications dragged on.
Diller has got plenty to tackle in QVC's core business. The company is launching a home-shopping channel, called Q2, that will target affluent customers. The channel is expected to debut this spring. QVC has struck joint ventures with British and Mexican companies to launch overseas home shopping services.
"QVC is a company that has had terrific growth in its business, $ 200-plus million in free cash flow (a year) and not an ounce of debt," Diller, who wasn't talking Tuesday, told USA TODAY last month before the outcome of the Paramount battle was clear. "And it's on the frontier of a huge tomorrow, a huge business. To me, it is an unarguable issue that electronic retailing will grow, and QVC's got a majority percentage of it."
But to fulfill Diller's goal of transforming QVC from a home-shopping service into a wide-ranging entertainment conglomerate, he'll likely have to diversify. One strong possibility: Diller will seek to purchase a TV- or movie-production company.
Sony may be willing to sell all or part of Columbia/Tri-Star. Matsushita likewise may be mulling a sale of MCA. Some analysts think media mogul Ted Turner would be open to selling all or parts of New Line Cinema and Castle Rock Entertainment, even though he just bought them last year.
John Turo, research director at brokerage Rodman and Renshaw, even raised the far-fetched idea of Diller combining forces with Canadian spirits company Seagram and its president, Edgar Bronfman Jr., to bid for Time Warner. Seagram already owns 11.7% of Time Warner.
"The industry is ripe for some sort of consolidation," Turo says. "And Diller is a force to be reckoned with."
Diller made his mark in TV and movies long ago. At 32, he was one of the youngest studio heads in Hollywood history. At Fox in the mid-1980s, he created a fourth national network to rival ABC, CBS and NBC.
And after the fight for Paramount, Diller is no stranger to merger-mania. Jessica Reif, analyst for Oppenheimer & Co., said Diller "carried himself very well. He kept his word and bid what he thought was prudent. He didn't cave in under pressure."
"I've been going to school at one of the largest mergers, one that's got every piece of drama and the kitchen sink thrown in," Diller said. "I have learned an unbelievable amount."
It's doubtful, however, that he'll want to compete in another protracted bidding war, securities analysts say. The battle was no doubt bruising. And analysts estimate the legal costs for both bidders - QVC and Viacom - could exceed $ 100 million total.
It's also unclear what will happen to the coalition of companies Diller pieced together to help him buy Paramount - a coalition that consisted of BellSouth, cable companies Comcast and Cox Enteprises and Advance Publications.
Kevin Doyle, a spokesman for BellSouth, said the company has six months to decide to exercise its option to buy $ 500 million in QVC stock. "We will be evaluating it very closely," he said.
Meg Opdycke-Lamme, a spokeswoman for Cox, said the company made its commitment contingent on QVC getting Paramount, and "we don't have any plans to do anything else with QVC right now."
Also cloudy: Diller's relationship with John Malone, the powerful CEO of cable giant Tele-Communications Inc. who backed Diller early in the fight but then announced his company would merge with Bell Atlantic. That led to anti-trust concerns. So Malone pulled out of QVC's Paramount bid.
How has losing affected Diller?
A few weeks ago, he seemed level-headed about the idea.
"I have had such good people around me and that (fact,) plus my own instincts, make me feel that in the end if we lose, we haven't lost."
