Sony America's Next Action Hero?

From Mulholland to Melrose, Hollywood has been abuzz with speculation that Sony Corp. of America was about to become The Mickey and Jeffrey Show. The only question was, which Mickey and Jeffrey? Rumor No.1 had Jeffrey Katzenberg, chairman of Walt Disney Studios, leaving the House of Mickey to take over Sony's troubled entertainment operations. Rumor No.2 had Mickey Schulhof, the chief executive of Sony U.S., bringing in former CBS programming whiz Jeffrey F. Sagansky as head troubleshooter.

The second rumor turns out to be true. Executives at Sony said on Aug. 30 that Michael P. Schulhof was close to naming Sagansky president of Sony Software, umbrella company for Sony's movie, music, and electronic-publishing divisions. As president of CBS's entertainment division, Sagansky helped vault the network from last to first place in the Nielsen ratings. Now he faces an even tougher task.