CBS announced its chairman’s exit Sunday night, hours after The New Yorker magazine posted a story with a second round of ugly accusations against Moonves. CBS said $20 million will be donated to one or more organizations that support #MeToo and workplace equality for women. That sum will be deducted from any severance due Moonves, a figure that won’t be determined until an outside investigation led by a pair of law firms is finished. In addition, CBS’s board also announced Sunday that Redstone’s National Amusements will not propose a merger between CBS and Viacom, which Redstone had been urging, for two years. Six new CBS board members were also appointed.
Time’s Up put out a statement Thursday criticizing the $100 million settlement package that CBS CEO Les Moonves is reportedly set to receive in his widely-expected exit from the company. “[This] settlement sends a message to survivors everywhere that powerful men can act without fear of consequence.”
CBS ‘s board is in settlement talks with CEO Leslie Moonves that would result in his departure from the company and the appointment of COO Joe Ianniello as the interim CEO, according to people close to the negotiations. The talks between Moonves and his board have been going on for some time but have yet to reach a conclusion given continued back and forth about his exit package that the sources say comprises roughly $100 million in CBS stock.
Allegations of sexual misconduct against CBS chairman Leslie Moonves have now hit a courtroom as one CBS shareholder on Monday filed a putative class action against the company.
As Sumner Redstone’s former girlfriend and a Leslie Moonves accuser, Christine Peters has a whopper of a story to tell. And it appears she’s ready to do just that. A source says the How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days producer and ex-wife of Jon Peters is shopping a memoir titled Hollywood Granola: My Life With Nuts and Flakes and near a deal with a major publisher.
An article posted by the New Yorker this evening alleges in sometimes graphic language that Moonves sexually harassed six women between the 1980s and the late aughts. Four describe forcible touching or kissing during business meetings, in what they said appeared to be a practiced routine. Two told reporter Ronan Farrow that Moonves physically intimidated them or threatened to derail their careers. After the Hollywood Reporter earlier today reported that the New Yorker planned to publish such an article, CBS released a statement saying independent board directors were investigating the charges and CBS stock began falling. It was down 6% as 6:30 p.m. ET.
Exclusives
Viacom is awaiting a response from CBS to the acquisition counteroffer that Viacom submitted last week. CBS executives and bankers were said to be huddling Wednesday and Thursday to hammer out a new offer. Details are still sketchy but it’s believed that CBS will raise the valuation of Viacom up from its opening March 30 offer, which came in around $12 billion. CBS is not expected to budge on the issue of keeping CBS chairman-CEO Leslie Moonves’ current top executive team intact.
Leslie Moonves is open to merging CBS and Viacom — on his terms — but Shari Redstone, eager for power, may be ready to sacrifice Hollywood’s most celebrated exec to chart her own path.
As she seeks to combine CBS and Viacom into a single company again, media mogul Shari Redstone risks losing her most talented executive, whose leadership could be critical to ensuring the proposed merger succeeds. Her long-time friend and business ally, powerful CBS chief executive Les Moonves, has emerged as one of the biggest obstacles to a potential CBS-Viacom tie-up, according to people familiar with the matter.
Les Moonves Talks CBS On ‘Kreiner’s Korner’
Shari Redstone faces a delicate negotiation with CBS CEO Leslie Moonves, who wants to be at the helm of the united company.
In its first major international acquisition, the U.S. giant stunned the Fox mogul with a deal that gives the Leslie Moonves-led company a foothold in the fourth-largest English-speaking market.
CBS Chairman Leslie Moonves will be dragged into the legal drama surrounding Sumner Redstone after all, as a California judge switched gears after tentatively granting a motion to quash a subpoena served to him.
CBS will keep Leslie Moonves as its CEO through June 30, 2021. His previous contract had him relinquishing his title in mid-2019. His new contract stipulates that his salary will remain at its current level, and that he will be eligible to receive bonuses and other long-term incentives.
CBS Chairman-CEO Leslie Moonves got a big pay raise in 2016, with his compensation package climbing 22% from 2015 to a whopping $69.6 million. Moonves’ payday was buoyed by a $32 million cash bonus and another $31.9 million in stock awards, reflecting the 35% gain that CBS shares logged in 2016.
CBS CEO Les Moonves likes the chances that CBS All Access and Showtime OTT will go global soon. Speaking today at a Deutsche Bank investor conference, Moonves said there is a long-term opportunity internationally for both services and that selling the services on a combined basis could make sense.
Showtime’s internet-only subscriber base has climbed to 1.5 million, while CBS All Access — the broadcaster’s live and on-demand paid streaming service — is nearing the same number of subs, according to CBS CEO Leslie Moonves.
The top executive at CBS Corp. said the company was following a strategy based on wringing the most dollars out of content and distribution, even as it considers a potential tie-up with sister corporation Viacom Inc. “We are in the very early stages” of considering a possible merger with Viacom, said CBS CEO Leslie Moonves at an annual investor conference held by UBS. “There are a lot of lawyers, a lot of bankers. We are very happy with the way we are as a standalone company.” When it comes to Viacom, Moonves said. “Anything could happen.”
Moonves Addresses CBS-Viacom Merger
The big question for CBS is whether — or, more likely, when — it will merge with Viacom. And CEO Les Moonves provided the safe answer to analysts in his quarterly earnings call. “If it looks right and is structured properly, it could be an attractive opportunity,” he says. But “we will only do a deal if it’s in the best interests of CBS and its shareholders.”
CBS CEO Leslie Moonves is planning to seek autonomy from the Redstone family, the broadcaster’s controlling shareholder, in leading the company if it merges with Viacom, two people familiar with the matter said. While there is no certainty that CBS and Viacom will agree to a merger, Moonves is seeking to capitalize on his 10-year track record at the helm of CBS to gain as much influence as possible over the combined company, the people said.
The prospect of a reunion of CBS and Viacom, which were first brought together in 2000 by Sumner Redstone, carries numerous questions. But the biggest boils down to: WWLD — What Would Leslie (Moonves) Do? Here’s a look at key factors that will be part of the conversation in the coming weeks.
With this year’s upfront — the best CBS has seen in nearly 10 years — Les Moonves says the upcoming scatter market advertising sales of the new season looks to continue that trend.
CBS and Viacom are “not in active discussions” for a potential reunion, Leslie Moonves said on Thursday, adding, “or anything like that.” “We are a standalone public company,” the broadcast boss continued. “We’re really happy with the hand we are playing.”
The FCC’s Retrans Coin Is Up In The Air
Heads, the FCC listens to CBS’s Les Moonves and other broadcasters who are urging it to leave the retrans rules alone so they can continue to get fee increases. Tails, the agency agrees with Massillon Cable TV’s Bob Gessner and other cable operators who contend retrans needs to be overhauled to decrease broadcasters’ leverage and curtail the fees. How the coin will land is anybody’s guess — and the coin is worth billions.
Moonves: As CBS Prospers So Will Affiliates
Yes, affiliates will face increasing demands for reverse comp, but that’s the price of belonging to America’s most-watched network and joining CBS in exploiting new broadband pay media like CBS All Access. The ever-bullish CEO also says CBS is open to ATSC 3.0 and is willing to take a run at more first-run syndication, and he sees no end to the lucrative broadcasting-NFL partnership.
Leslie Moonves, who joined CBS in 1995 and replaced the ailing Sumner Redstone as chairman this month, says he was able to put his own stamp on the network even when reporting to his predecessor. The 66-year-old Moonves has restored CBS’s vaunted place in the industry by adapting it to a rapidly changing media landscape. This month, CBS posted its best quarterly earnings in its history, helped by having shows that are not just primetime hits but also assets that can generate revenue from around the world and online.
NAB spokesman Dennis Wharton: “Programming impasses are exceedingly rare, and those that occur are the result of bad actor pay-TV operators trying to game the system.”
CBS’s Moonves Bullish On TV’s Upfront
Current strong demand for TV advertising means the networks should have a bigger and better upfront sales season this spring, according to CBS Chairman Leslie Moonves. “Advertising is as robust as we’ve seen in a long time,” Moonves said Thursday in his comments to Wall Street analysts.
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.
Apple’s proposed TV service may take awhile to get ready but it looks like it will include CBS when it launches. CBS CEO Les Moonves says his network will “probably” sign a deal with Apple to carry his network. “We’re very excited about it,” he told Kara Swisher at the Code Conference Wednesday morning. Moonves said that he met with Apple media boss Eddy Cue last week to discuss Apple’s plans, as part of an “ongoing conversation.”
The CBS chief’s package includes $3.5 million in salary, $25 million bonus, $15 million in stock awards, $10 million in option awards, $2.8 million change in pension value, and $1.4 million in other compensation. It’s his lowest compensation since 2009.
“The days of the 500 channel universe are over” as programmers begin to offer their products directly to consumers outside of the traditional pay-TV bundle, CBS chief Les Moonves told investors this morning at Deutsche Bank Securities 2015 Media, Internet & Telecom Conference. And Showtime will participate in the change by launching a product similar to the just-announced HBO Now “in the not-too-distant future.”
CBS CEO Leslie Moonves would need around $2.2 billion to buy out National Amusement Inc.’s stake in the media giant. Moonves, the New York Post reported yesterday, is talking with banks and private equity firms about buying NAI’s stake.
CBS boss Les Moonves, fearful that a merger with Viacom will be forced upon his company after majority owner Sumner Redstone dies, is discussing ways to buy out the broadcaster’s controlling shareholder, National Amusements Inc., with Wall Street heavy hitters.
CBS President-CEO Les Moonves raged against the traditional ratings metrics on Wednesday during his Consumer Electronics Show keynote speech in Las Vegas. “Overnight ratings are worthless right now,” Moonves said. “We have to be more patient. Our information now coming from so many different places, over much longer time.”
CBS President-CEO Leslie Moonves is on board until June 30, 2019, with a two-year contract extension announced today.
CBS, Fox Say Selling Spectrum An Option
CBS Corp.’s Leslie Moonves and 21st Century Fox’s James Murdoch say they want to take a closer look at what the government might offer in its upcoming spectrum auction. “Spectrum presents a very great opportunity for us,” Moonves said at the annual UBS Global Media Communications Conference. “We own 27 television stations — 13 are CBS and the rest are CW or independents. When you see the numbers being thrown out there for the spectrum of a local television station — in the $200-million range — suddenly that looks pretty attractive to a CW duopoly,” Moonves said, referring to markets where CBS owns two stations.
Moonves Says CBS Is ‘Ready For Everything’
CBS isn’t giving up on the broadcasting business anytime soon. But that isn’t stopping the company from preparing for a future without over-the-air TV. “We are ready for the eventuality of whatever comes down the pipe,” CBS CEO Les Moonves said at the UBS Media & Telecommunications Conference Tuesday afternoon. “We believe in broadcast, we believe in digital, we are ready for everything.”
