The fate of Viacom's web presence - and its lawsuit against Google/YouTube - rests largely in the hands of Mika Salmi, according to CNET.
Salmi is president of Global Digital Media for MTV Networks, the umbrella group for most of Viacom's TV networks, and so he's in charge of how those networks' shows get distributed and promoted on the internet. He'll play a pivotal role, according to CNET, in Viacom's digital strategy, part of which will have to do with tearing down walls between the TV and digital sides of MTV Networks.

Though not directly involved in the negotiations with YouTube, Salmi says he is confident Viacom will be fine no matter how things play out. He says the online audience will eventually be drawn away from big sites like MySpace and YouTube to smaller, niche-oriented sites.

The development of niche sites is an area Salmi has experience in, having founded Atom in 1995, a company that was eventually bought by Viacom.