CBS' Moonves Rips Disney, ESPN

Les Moonves

"When ESPN or Comcast announce they are losing subs, that is a good thing for us," said Leslie Moonves, chairman and president of CBS, at an investor conference in New York on Thursday, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

In a colorful discussion at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia Conference, Moonves said analysts should be distinguishing CBS from its peers. Stealing NBC's old catchphrase, Moonves boasted, "We are must-see TV," perhaps implying that the others are not.

Moonves also said CBS is part of every "important" skinny bundle package and that the network stands to make even more money. He pointed out that the network gets $2 a subscriber from traditional cable and satellite packages, $4 from so-called skinny bundle digital services and $6 from CBS All Access, the company's over-the-top service.

In a shot at Disney, which spent billions to acquire a majority stake in a streaming video platform, Moonves said CBS "didn't go to BAMTech for a zillion dollars. We did it ourselves."

And he targeted Disney subsidiary ESPN in hyping CBS' upcoming over-the-top service for sports.

"We think there is a place in the market for straight clips and scores," he said. "I'm a sports fan, but when I turn on ESPN, I see people yelling at each other."