THE PARAMOUNT DEAL : Voices

Reaction to the end of the struggle for Paramount:

“Until Paramount certifies the winner, there is no winner. If we’re fortunate enough to have Paramount . . my comment would be that it was a marriage made in heaven, dragged through hell on the way to consummation.”

--Viacom Chairman Sumner Redstone

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“Sumner kept coming. Every time you could taste victory, he came back.”

--Comcast President Brian Roberts, who supported QVC’s rival bid

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“It’s safe to say that Sherry (Lansing) and Stanley (Jaffe) have no job security.”

--Hollywood executive

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“It’s almost certain Sherry (Lansing) will go. There may be a polite period where she hangs in there. But with Stanley (Jaffe) out either way--which has been made clear--there’s no motive for Sherry to stay and work for Redstone.”

--Hollywood source on the likely fate of the two Paramount executives

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“They were the sticking point. Advance (Publications) is very vigorous (about overpaying), and they just thought it wasn’t worth that kind of money.”

--One source commenting on a QVC backer

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“He will go gangbusters at QVC. He’s thinking ‘Sumner was the richest, but I’m the smartest.’ ”

--A scource close to QVC Chairman Barry Diller

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“Even if he loses, never count Barry out. I would exepect within a year another big deal for Barry.”

--Mark Nathanson, chief executive of Los Angeles-based Falcon Cable TV

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“As far as interactive goes, two rookies have decided to get together and play in the major leagues.”

--Stewart Bonn, Electronic Arts vice president for advanced entertainment

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“It makes them a major player. We have a field of dreams and now we have a field of Goliaths that are able to dream very large dreams.”

--Bishop Cheen, a senior analyst at Paul Kagan and Associates

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“Even we are not conceited enough to think our content is enough to drive a whole new service that the consumer doesn’t even perceive that they need yet.”

--Entertainment industry executive

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“It’s about companies that need content connecting with companies that have content. It’s called vertical integration.”

--Entertainment technology executive