Les Moonves Again Says CBS "Likes" Radio

Les Moonves

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."

CBS launched two high-profile digital products in 2014, CBS All Access and CBSN, and is preparing at least one major service in 2015, with a Showtime streaming service.

CapitalNewYork.com reports Moonves touted his company's digital advances at the conference, and explained how he viewed its strategy in that area. He said All Access, which offers on-demand CBS programming and a live feed from local affiliates for $5.99 per month, is "ahead of projections," though he would not elaborate what that meant.

As for radio..Moonves curtly told those attending  “We like it.” “We like the cash it delivers. No muss, no fuss.”

He also provided a peek into how CBS Radio is performing.  Radio growth in the fourth quarter should be up low-to-mid single digits with similar growth in 2015.

Moonves mentioned the company’s recent deal with Beasley Broadcast Group, which swapped away 14 mid-market CBS stations for five Beasley properties in Miami and Philadelphia, suggesting that similar swaps may be in the works.