Sumner Redstone, the boss of Viacom and CBS, has gazed into his crystal ball, and what he sees may not cheer up anyone in the newspaper business — though it may, conveniently, be good news for broadcasters. According to Redstone, “there won’t be any newspapers in two years.”

Making a not-very-subtle dig at rival mogul Rupert Murdoch, the octogenarian Redstone declared: “He lives in ink, and I live in movies and television. Ink is going to go away, and movies and television will be here forever, like me.”

While Redstone likes to boast that he plans “to live forever,” we’re sort of with TechDirt’s Mike Masnick on this one: “If I were a betting man and were to bet on who’d live longer: print newspapers or Sumner Redstone… I think I’d side with the newspapers.”

Then again, if “ink” really dies in two years, and Redstone is still around to dance on its grave in another decade or so, we’ll have what he’s having.

Sumner Redstone Says Murdoch’s Newspapers Will Fail [BusinessWeek via TechDirt]

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