There are a number of avenues via which CBS believes it can continue to grow, and one of them is a dual highway. It’s retransmission consent income – which comes in directly to CBS as a station owner and indirectly via reverse compensation as a major network operator.
CBS COO Joe Inanniello discussed the company’s prospects at a Wells Fargo conference, and according to Wells Fargo analyst Marci Ryvicker, the company is well on its way to meeting its target of $1B in retrans income by 2017.
It’s aiming for $1/subscriber for its local television stations, and a 50% cut from its affiliates. Ryvicker said that recent station deals with Verizon and Time Warner Cable support the local station side of the prediction; and she noted that the other end of it is supported by the fact that it will be negotiating numerous new affiliation agreements during 2014 and 2015.
CBS is interested in getting the benefit of commercial viewing by time-shifters, and says a shift from C3 to C7 ratings, adding four more days to the data pool, is a matter of when, not if.
The company has been very encouraged by and hopes to build on the success of “Under the Dome”.
CBS believes there is much room to grow for its Showtime franchise and will be investing in more original programming.
Wells Fargo rates CBS overweight.
Now that they are making all of this profit, maybe they can start by hiring people again?
Radio needs a boost,
Moving Jay Sorenson from weekends on WCBS FM (no 1 rated)to full time would be a good beginning.
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