NATION

Frank J. Biondi, chairman and chief executive of Coca-Cola Television and former chairman of Time Inc.’s Home Box Office, will replace Terrence J. Elkes as chief executive of Viacom International, the cable, broadcast and program production firm.

Biondi, 41, said he was approached about taking the post by Sumner M. Redstone, the Boston theater chain operator and investor who in March won a bidding war for Viacom with a management buyout group headed by Elkes. Elkes plans to leave the company were disclosed this week.

“Obviously, others may be leaving, too, but I think basically the company’s in good shape,” Biondi noted. He said his first order of business would be to fill the position of president of Showtime/The Movie Channel, the pay-TV movie service that has faced highly publicized problems in its competition with HBO.

Despite those problems, “I think there’s an important role for Showtime,” Biondi said. “I think the cable operators want it, and I think the viewers want it.”

Biondi has been an executive vice president of Coca-Cola’s entertainment business section since January, 1985, and was with HBO for the six preceding years.

Redstone and Elkes could not be reached for comment.