[opendtv] Moonves Won’t Reveal Numbers for All Access | Broadcasting & Cable
- From: Craig Birkmaier <craig@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: OpenDTV Mail List <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 10 Dec 2014 09:28:04 -0500
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/news/currency/moonves-won-t-reveal-numbers-all-access/136247
Moonves Won’t Reveal Numbers for All Access
CBS’ normally talkative CEO Les Moonves declined to say how many people have
subscribed to the company’s over-the-top service.
Speaking at the 42d annual UBS media conference on Tuesday, Moonves would say
only that CBS All Access was “ahead of projections,” but acknowledged that
could mean as few as 10 subscribers.
“I’ve been extremely impressed with the product,” he said, adding that its
subscriber base would grow as more affiliates sign up to provide a live feed of
their stations’ programming over broadband. He added that the price of the
service could change when CBS’ NFL games are added. He also said other content
providers had inquired about making their programming part of the package.
Pressed for a hard number of subscribers, Moonves replied, “When Netflix tells
you how many people are watching House of Cards, we’ll tell you how many
subscribers we have.”
Moonves was also pleased with another new digital product CBSN, the online news
channel. He noted that viewership went up when the Ferguson, Mo., story broke.
The goal with All Access — as well as a Showtime over-the-top service to be
introduced next year — is for CBS to be prepared for the future. But Moonves
said that CBS didn’t want to go around the cable operators and other
distributors it currently works with.
“We’re going to the broadband homes directly. The broadband homes exist whether
we have all access or not. It's not to circumvent a Dish when you go dark on
them,” he said. Moonves noted that the CBS blackout on Dish Network ended just
before the SEC Championship game was to be broadcast, illustrating the power of
football. Dish Chairman Charlie Ergen went to an SEC school, he added. “If
Tennessee was in the finals we could have gotten another time.
Moonves was bullish on CBS’ performance so far this season. He said that after
a slow summer for the ad market, CBS was doing extremely well in scatter. “With
the ratings we’re getting we have no trouble selling inventory,” he said.
CBS’s chief research officer David Poltrack told the conference on Monday that
the broadcasters would have limited growth this year. But Moonves said that
“all networks are not created equal” and that most of that growth would come to
CBS, as opposed to NBC, which had the Olympics last year.
Moonves said CBS would also have growth in late night next year after David
Letterman retires. Letterman owned the shows CBS aired in late night, which
limited CBS’s financial return. The network will own the new late night show
hosted by Stephen Colbert, who is also big online. “The cost will be less.
Colbert’s a rookie, but a well proven one.”
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