CBS’ 32-day blackout on Time Warner Cable systems did not
put a dent in the Eye’s bottom line, CBS Corp. prexy-CEO Leslie Moonves told an
investor confab on Wednesday, according to Variety.
“Our national ad
dollars did not go down at all,” Moonves said in a Q&A session at the Bank
of America Merrill Lynch Media, Communications and Entertainment conference in Beverly Hills . He said
the Eye’s upcoming third-quarter earnings report will prove “there was no harm
done financially to the CBS Corporation” from the loss of coverage on TW Cable
systems in New York, Los Angeles, Dallas and a handful of other markets.
Moonves reiterated that it was TW Cable’s call to pull the
CBS stations and Showtime off the air — which marked a first for CBS going dark
in a retransmission negotiation. But Moonves has no regrets for holding out for
the deal that eventually came together
over Labor Day weekend — especially CBS’ balk against TW Cable’s effort to
restrict the Eye’s ability to strike digital distribution deals for its programming.
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