Speaking Tuesday at the Credit Suisse Global Media & Communications Convergence Conference in Palm Beach, Fla., CEO Les Moonves said he wouldn't hesitate to yank the network signal from an affiliate if it didn't play ball on sharing retransmission consent fee revenue.
Moonvest said CBS did that in Jacksonville, Fla., four or five years ago when the station said they ought to be paid by CBS. "We ended the affiliate agreement, and they went from the No. 1 to the No. 5 station," he said. "There are alternatives. I worked hard to make CBS the number one network. The affiliates are sharing the $600 million NFL. I need something back for that."
Read the full article for more Moonves gems at B&C.
Seems like the networks are really worried, and continue to look for as much profit as possible.
ReplyDeleteHere is a clip (begins at the 2:27 mark) of something similar that was being discussed in 1986:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUJJLJ4nsSk