Street Talk Time Warner Inc. Vice Chairman Ted Turner Has Come A Long Way. Or So He Told An...

"Did you see 'Saving Private Ryan'?" he asked. "Remember all the guys who hit the beach first were floating in the water?"

Now, things are much calmer, Turner said. "I've been kicked upstairs into a corner office, and I don't have a whole lot of duties. Kind of like Bill Paley when he was 80 years old."



Uproar, an Europe-controlled company that creates and distributes online game shows, is preparing a U.S. initial public offering, sources said. Uproar parent E-Pub Holdings Inc. is listed on the Vienna Stock Exchange and is 11% owned by U.K. publishing and entertainment group Pearson Plc.

Uproar, which says it's among the 25 most popular Web sites on the Internet, has produced shows such as CBS SportsLine Team Trivia, Puzzle A-Go-Go, Picture This, Cosmo's Conundrum and Bingo Blitz. More than 16,000 sites have joined Uproar's game-show syndication program. Other E-Pub sites include Uproar U.K. and Uproar Germany. Uproar recently hired Grey Advertising to boost U.S. awareness of its brand.



French conglomerate Viviendi SA has retained investment bankers at Lazard Freres & Co. to find a buyer for its outdoor advertising business, one of the largest billboard groups in Europe. The business could fetch about $800 million, sources said. Potential Stateside buyers include Clear Channel Communications, Chancellor Media Corp., CBS Corp. and Outdoor Systems Inc.

CBS owns large outdoor advertiser TDI Worldwide and may want to grow its European base. Clear Channel's overseas billboard portfolio took a leap last year when it purchased the U.K.'s More Group, but Clear Channel is reportedly mulling a bid for Chancellor, so it may be busy. Likewise Chancellor, which is trying to sell itself. In any case, interested parties are perusing briefing books.

-- Jill Goldsmith