Television’s biggest cheerleader Leslie Moonves was at it again Thursday. The CBS Corp. chief executive told a Hollywood Radio and Television Society’s newsmaker luncheon that “I think the broadcast model is better now than it was five years ago because there are all of these places to take your content.”
In the wake of ESPN’s deal to keep the NFL on its network at an average price tag of $1.9 billion a year, CBS CCO Leslie Moonves said he also anticipated paying more, but hopefully nothing approaching what the sports cable channel will be shelling out.
CBS CEO Les Moonves received a big raise in 2010, his total compensation for the year rising more than a third over 2009 to $57.7 million. CBS justified the increase by saying that Moonves “led CBS to results that produced extraordinary growth in shareholder value, and outpaced both the industry and the company’s internal targets.”
In an interview Tuesday at the NAB Show, CBS CEO Leslie Moonves took issue with the value of USA Network, warned the government to stay out of his business, and said he is worried about technology cannibalizing his core business.
CBS Television Distribution has emerged as the front-runner to distribute Katie Couric’s daytime talk show starting in fall 2012. CBS CEO Leslie Moonves fully backs the effort to keep Couric in-house, report several sources, and is very involved in the talks.
Exclusives
CBS CEO Leslie Moonves said the company’s initiative to create online hubs in markets using the combined resources of its local TV and radio stations has a chance to out-compete local newspaper sites and Yellow Page directories.
CBS Chief Executive Leslie Moonves told an investors conference in San Francisco on Tuesday that stopping production on the final eight episodes of this season’s Two and a Half Men is “financially a gainer.”
The April 12 session in Las Vegas will feature discussions on new competition, growth opportunities for local and network television on new digital devices and government efforts to reclaim additional television spectrum.
The network, which is shaking up its management, has asked anchor Katie Couric to stay on through the 2012 elections — for significantly less money than her original $15 million deal.
CBS: No Rush Onto Digital Platforms
CBS sees no great rush to put its shows on such new digital platforms as Google TV or Netflix. “People want our content. We’re going to be paid. We’re going to take our time making the right decision,” CBS Corp. CEO Leslie Moonves said at the 38th annual UBS Global Media and Communications Conference Tuesday.
