CBS Corp.

Australia’s Ten Network shareholders voted Monday to accept a bid from CBS Corp. The “overwhelming” vote in favor of the bid was a loss for Lachlan Murdoch and Bruce Gordon, who had lost a court decision earlier that day to delay the creditors’ meeting. 

Lachlan Murdoch and Bruce Gordon have failed in their legal bid to block CBS Corp. from taking over the insolvent Ten Network. The two had argued that their own bid wasn’t properly considered, but the Supreme Court in New South Wales dismissed the challenge. Murdoch and Gordon have said they’ll appeal the decision. 

Sumner Redstone’s National Amusements Inc., the controlling shareholder of CBS Corp. and Viacom Inc., is preparing to call on the two media companies to explore a merger, two people familiar with the matter said today.

Shari Redstone has long been on the sidelines of her father’s $40-billion media empire. But in the last month she has emerged as a central figure in the battle over the future of Viacom Inc. and CBS Corp. The 62-year-old vice chair of the two media companies was widely suspected as the force behind Sumner Redstone’s unexpected decision last week to oust his longtime lieutenant, Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman, from the trust that will eventually determine the future of CBS and Viacom.

Increases in political, retrans and carriage of Super Bowl 50 were drivers. Looking ahead, CEO Les Moonves says “we are in a very enviable position for this year’s upfront, given the ongoing strength of our primetime lineup and a robust advertising marketplace. Plus, advertising is poised for even more growth in the back half of the year as political spending ramps up.” He adds that retrans is expected to surpass $1 billion this year.

Leslie Moonves has been named chairman of CBS Corp. Sumner Redstone has stepped down from his role as executive chairman of the company and has been named chairman emeritus.

The decline is due to lower political ad money and fewer sporting events. On the positive side, retransmission consent and reverse compensation “were up 50% in the third quarter and are well on their way to exceeding $1 billion next year,” said CEO Les Moonves.

CBS Corp. said Kelli Raftery, a longtime member of its communications staff, would become SVP of communications and move to the East Coast to supervise outreach for the company’s advertising sales, research and affiliate sales operations, among other units.

The CBS Corp. executive chairman said Thursday that he’s not attending the company’s annual meeting in New York next week. The 91-year-old also missed the meeting of Viacom Inc. in Florida in March for the first time.

Lower advertising revenue was the culprit. For the company as a whole, reverse comp was up 11% and CEO Leslie Moonves said: “Our online news channel, CBSN, and our over-the-top service, CBS All Access, are exceeding expectations. We have already expanded CBS All Access to more than half of the country, and we expect it to be offered to 75% of all households by year’s end.”

Viacom is never ever getting back together with CBS — unless it gets dumped by Dish. The Sumner Redstone-controlled company is facing renewed calls on Wall Street to reunite with its former sibling ahead of a high-stakes battle with Charlie Ergen’s Dish Network over programming fees.

CBS President-CEO Leslie Moonves is on board until June 30, 2019, with a two-year contract extension announced today.

Companies including Walt Disney, CBS and Viacom have asked the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals to step in and block an FCC decision that would forcethem to reveal the terms of their business deals. Those deals are part of the public review of Comcast’s $45 billion bid to buy Time Warner Cable and AT&T’s $48 billion plan to buy DirecTV.

The increase was due in part to political money and retransmission consent revenue.

CBS CEO Leslie Moonves yesterday took aim at its affiliates who negotiate bad deals, TV ratings measurement and marketers who don’t pay enough. “We the networks should not be penalized because you the station do not negotiate retrans properly,” he said. Moonves, who has a goal of reaping some $2 billion in retransmission fees by 2020, threw down the gauntlet to the leaders of non-owned CBS stations to get those dollars in his pocket — or else.

The decrease was due in part to the nonrenewal of a sports programming contract and the absence of the broadcast of the semifinals of the NCAA Tournament.

Walt Disney Co., Discovery Communications and CBS Corp. are being asked for information by U.S. antitrust officials probing Comcast Corp.’s planned purchase of Time Warner Cable Inc., according to three people familiar with the matter.

The drop was due to the lack of Super Bowl revenue this year and two fewer NCAA Tournament games.

Les Moonves saw his total compensation for leading CBS rise more than 7% to $66.9 million in 2013, according to a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing released on Friday.

But with political factored out, that number becomes a 9% increase. The TV network posted a 4% revenue gain, while cable networks were up 9%.

The comapnies’ most comprehensive deal in a decades-long relationship spans television audience measurement and host of advisory services.

Larry Tu has been named senior executive vice president and chief legal officer of CBS Corp., succeeding the retiring Louis J. Briskman.

The drop to $641 million is due to lower political ad dollars in this non-election year. The TV network posted a 13% revenue gain, while cable networks were up 37% to $596 million.

He will oversee over the company’s work in Washington, as well as with state and local governments. His promotion follows the retirement of Marty Franks who headed CBS’s Washington office. Orlando rejoined CBS in early 2006 as SVP, Washington. He has also served as CBS’s lead lobbyist.

“You will see at our third quarter earnings that there was no harm done to CBS Corp.,”  company CEO Leslie Moonves told investors about the 32-day blackout on Time Warner Cable systems. “It didn’t hurt us one iota financially.”

The drop to $698 million is due to lower political ad dollars in this non-election year. The TV network posted an 11% revenue gain to $2 billion, while cable networks were up 16% to $518 million. The broadcaster benefited from licensing its shows to online streaming providers such as Netflix Inc. and from increasing the money it receives from cable and satellite TV distributors to retransmit CBS programming on customers’ lineups.

CBS Corp. announced Thursday that its board of directors has expanded its share repurchase program to a total of $6 billion, an increase of $5.1 billion. Since the share repurchase program was initiated in January 2011, through the end of the second quarter of 2013, CBS has returned $3.75 billion of value to its shareholders. In addition, the board has approved a quarterly dividend on the company’s stock of 12 cents per share. The dividend is payable on Oct. 1, to shareholders of record on Sept. 10.

The company’s chief financial officer since 2009 will now oversee all financial operations.

In litigation over Aereo’s expansion, lawyers for CBS say the words “we will sue” doesn’t amount to a “concrete promise” to do just that around the nation.

A month after CBS Corp. acquired 50% of TV Guide, the company that encompasses TVGN (formerly TV Guide Network) and TVGuide.com, CBS is in the process of taking full ownership of TVGuide.com.

The growth is primarily driven by the 2013 Super Bowl ad contributions to the CBS owned-and-operated stations as well as higher retransmission revenues.

Les Moonves is out to get Aereo by any means necessary, but he “doesn’t lose sleep over it,” the CBS Corp. president-CEO told the Milken Institute’s Global Conference Tuesday.  The CBS chief did say that if the situation couldn’t be resolved in the courts, he is more than willing to take CBS to cable. “We can do it in a few days. If we go to cable, if we are forced to, then about 10% of America will not get our signal and I don’t think they will like that,”

Time Warner Inc. and CBS Corp. have flirted for years. A marriage now may make more sense than ever. CBS shares, while trading near the highest price since the company and Viacom Inc. split seven years ago, fetch the lowest valuation versus earnings when compared with its five largest U.S. peers, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Gabelli & Co. said buying the most-watched broadcast network would give Time Warner, owner of cable channels such as CNN and TNT, more negotiating leverage to win higher fees fromcable and satellite systems that carry its programming.

CBS Corp. is adding a domestic basic cable network to its portfolio. It is nearing a deal to acquire JP Morgan’s One Equity Partners’ interest in TV Guide, the company that encompasses the TV Guide Network, recently rebranded as TVGN, and TVGuide.com. With the deal, which could close as early as next week, CBS will become a 50-50 partner with TV Guide co-owner Lionsgate Entertainment