CBS' Moonves Says VOD is Incremental Revenue

9 Sep, 2008 By: Chris Tribbey

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Speaking before investors at the Merrill Lynch Media fall preview conference Sept. 9, CBS Corp. president and CEO Leslie Moonves said VOD is still only a drop in the revenue bucket for his company, and that the networks will always have a place among the wide selection of cable channels.

“A lot of people watch the Olympics, a lot of people watch the Super Bowl,” Moonves said. “… Network television is still the only game in town to aggregate to a huge audience.” However, he admitted that he and other network executives realize the importance of the Internet and other new media, even if the revenues generated by online and on demand are minimal.

“The revenues are still very small and the cannibalism is minimal,” Moonves said of VOD. He added that most people who use VOD already are watching the shows on the network — they’re simply catching up on what they missed.

Moonves also said that while advertising revenue is sharply down for the networks this year, he sees greener pastures in 2009. He said his company is looking for new revenue streams in mobile.

“We view mobile as another opportunity for revenue,” he said. “We want people who get stuff from us to get it when and where they want.”

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