We all know that Midway has fallen on hard times for the last decade or so, but I don’t think many of us knew just how horrible they have been doing.

According to an article in the New York Times, Midway is doing so poorly that it may be at the heart of the crumbling media empire of Viacom/CBS owner Sumner Redstone.

Industry Analyst Michael Pachter is quoted estimating that Redstone has spent between $500 million and $700 million on stock in Midway since 1983. In 2005, Midway stock was traded at $23 a share, whereas today that stock is worth about 80 cents a share.

In 2005 Redstone’s 87% controlling stake in Midway was valued at more than $1.8 billion. As of last week, it is now valued at approximately $64 million.

"I think that he believed in the industry so much so that any company that was solvent that was in the business had potential," said Pachter.

The article calls Redstone’s investment in Midway a 25-year bad bet that has cost him hundreds of millions of dollars.

"Mr. Redstone has always argued — not incorrectly — that video games are part of the media industry’s future," states the article. "But Midway, which is best known for the 1990s arcade game Mortal Kombat, has eaten up a lot of quarters without much return. Midway has not reported a profit since the second quarter of fiscal 2000, and over the last three full fiscal years the company has lost $258.9 million."

Despite all of this, Redstone says he still thoroughly believes in Midway, and he’s not stopping at only words of encouragement. Redstone recently floated Midway a new $90 million loan. "We’ll do everything to keep it going," said Redstone.