Can This Man Get a Job?

Scenes from the continuing come-uppance of Barry Diller: when his private jet landed near New York City at around 6 p.m. last Tuesday, the man who would be head of CBS had no idea that he was also coming down to earth from his latest flight of ambition. Ahead of him lay the prospect of suppers at the White House, chats with Dan Rather and interviews with world leaders. Not to mention the highest ratings of any network, record profits of $109 million in the second quarter and a chance to play an even larger role in bringing two-way television to Americans. All that would begin to be his in just a few hours, when the boards of CBS and Diller's QVC home-shopping network would meet to approve a merger of the two companies.

But wait! There on the tarmac stood the rumpled figure of Ralph Roberts, 74, and his natty son Brian, 35, who controlled the Comcast cable-TV company and were partners with Diller in QVC. Known as straight-arrow businessmen in a rough-and-tumble industry, the Robertses hated the merger with CBS and arrived at the airport with a letter that contained shattering news for Diller: to bust up the deal that had electrified Wall Street when it was announced last month, Comcast was offering $2.2 billion, or $44 a share, for the 84% of QVC stock that it did not already own, easily besting the CBS offer of $38 a share.

"We went into a conference room at the airport, and they told me what their intention was," said Diller, 52, who was still fresh from losing a six-month struggle to acquire Paramount Communications in February. "I gave them a big smile and said, 'It isn't a complete surprise. I'm surprised a bit at the lateness of it, but it doesn't come as a surprise, given our previous discussions.' I don't consider it as an act of evil of any kind."

If Diller wasn't furious at the Robertses, others were mad enough at the family to make up for the omission. "Hollywood couldn't have written a script like this," snapped a source close to CBS chairman Laurence Tisch. "All these cable-cum-broadcasting people, they have three traits: they're phenomenally greedy, they're phenomenally jealous, and they're filled with a lot of hate for their competitors."

. The Robertses' bid not only reaffirmed Diller's status as a mogul manque, but it left CBS on the block for a takeover attempt by anyone from the Walt Disney Co. to cable-TV magnate Ted Turner. By agreeing last month to join forces with QVC, Tisch, 71, had shown himself willing to cash in half of his 20% stake in the network and to hand the titles of president and chief executive officer to Diller. Now, with the QVC deal gone aglimmering, CBS had what amounted to a COMPANY FOR SALE sign on its black granite headquarters in New York City.