Leslie Moonves, president and CEO of CBS, “said he had been opposed to the OTT idea when plans were initially proposed to him 18 months ago,” reports Variety from Moonves’ keynote conversation with MediaLink CEO Michael Kassan at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas on Wednesday.
“‘Being the old school guy, I came up with 12 reasons why we shouldn’t do it,’ Moonves said, but relented when he realized the demand for the company’s programming, including NFL games, on mobile platforms.
‘That was the main reason,’ he said, citing 10 million broadband homes. ‘This over-the-top offering enables everyone to watch our shows wherever,’ he said. ‘It’s not bad to say there are other alternatives.’
“But Moonves admitted he still wants to protect the way shows currently air on the network — and makes money from advertising. ‘We like the ecosystem the way it is and we want to continue it,’ Moonves said.”
The story also notes that CBS’ upcoming OTT service will be $5.99 a month and provide live and on demand programming from its CBS broadcast network and local TV stations.”
In his conversation Moonves also repeated his remarks from September of last year that overnight ratings are pretty much worthless, given the number of viewers who don’t watch shows when they initially come on-air.
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