Spectator Ego Is of Paramount Importance

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A year ago, before Diller hooked up with Malone at QVC, the cultural elite considered shopping by TV a joke, unworthy of serious interest. But Diller's involvement in one stroke transformed home shopping's image from pathetic trailer-park quasi-entertainment to visionary locomotive into the future. Yet he must have realized the frenzied run-up of his stock wouldn't continue indefinitely, and he certainly knows, according to a friend, that without a real Hollywood movie studio he cannot be a full-fledged member of Hollywood royalty. Analysts can talk about corporate fit and maximizing shareholder assets all they want, but the latest offer for Paramount is importantly about maximizing Barry Diller's stature among a few thousand residents of West L.A. and Manhattan.