WSJ.com - Hollywood Rewrite: Viacom Outbids GE To Buy DreamWorks

Nevertheless, Viacom's 11th-hour steal epitomizes the reasons why Hollywood can be a difficult place for a management-intensive company like GE to succeed. In a movie industry that values relationships and high-stakes bets, industrial and financial behemoth GE puts a premium on rigid return-on-investment calculations and a deliberate timetable. While Viacom schmoozed Mr. Spielberg and made things easy by not sweating small deal points, neither Mr. Immelt nor NBC Universal Chairman and Chief Executive Bob Wright directly solicited the support of the famous director.

They must have left off the ironic quotes around "succeed," because it seems like GE did exactly the right thing by refusing to invest when the payoff wasn't even remotely clear.

If succeeding in Hollywood means overpaying for a studio that's too expensive to be an indy, but too small to be a major player, then GE is probably happy to fail its way to the top.

Ah. A good broadside always makes me feel better. Sorry for the extended absence, but I've been saving my writing for my employers.