Moonves touts CBS' 'disciplined' costs

CBS Corp. Boss Leslie Moonves suggested their disciplined approach to programming costs Tuesday within the Goldman Sachs 20th Annual Communacopia Conference.Drawing contrast for the elevated possibilities the Eye's broadcast rivals Fox and NBC are generating around the fall schedule, Moonves noted the network need not spend as much to help keep its ratings, stating the introduction of just five new series this fall."We're very disciplined," he mentioned. "We have not overspent. It comes down lower to quality, not quantity."He suggested the big bets Fox is putting lower this fall on "The X Factor" and "Terra Nova" to produce its fourth-quarter viewership on closer level for the dominance the network achieves in the month of the month of january through May with "The The American Idol Show Show.Inch Moonves sometimes known for the additional $300 million NBC's new parent company, Comcast Corp., pledged to put into primetime development--a great investment he considered wise."They're in fourth place, they have to rebuild," he mentioned in the peacock. "It's a very smart step to complete.InchMoonves also gave notice for the Nfl that although football ongoing to become an excellent franchise for CBS, the eight-year $15 billion deal ESPN struck captured while using league may be too wealthy for his blood stream."We're aware the cost will probably increase,Inch he mentioned, watching CBS retains three years left on its pact to broadcast AFC games. "It won't be what ESPN paid out. Everyone knows that it will wound up costing more."Moonves also showed up at into recent CBS history to exhibit his fiscal prowess, watching the 2010 cancellation of drama "Without Any Trace," a collection the network had only partial having along with Warner Bros. While costs on "Trace" had risen to $4 million an instalment, Moonves mentioned altering the series with another that CBS had 100% having, "The Truly Amazing Wife," at under half the expansion expense and other ratings, converted to a genuine coup.Mentioned Moonves, "Consider the primary difference on cost for the network."The Interest Boss also forecasted over te next a long time he prone to collect hundreds of millions backwards retransmission costs, which are a slice of revenues local affiliate entrepreneurs get from entrepreneurs. But this new stream won't come without some friction according to Moonves, even though network hasn't seen much tension with stations so far of those discussions."You haven't learned about fights, we now have saved it quiet," mentioned Moonves. "Possibly the operative word is yet. There can be some disputes as you mind into the future and somebody thinks we're overcharging or we don't think we're getting paid out enough but at this time around we now have had the chance get to these handles our MSOs and our affiliate entrepreneurs."Moonves didn't specify what entity could potentially cause the dispute, though he noted that 25 deals are actually completed round the reverse-retrans front, and also the other such pact will rapidly be introduced while using Eye's first station group.CBS has nearly 40% of the 220 affiliate entrepreneurs inside the U.S. Contact Andrew Wallenstein at andrew.wallenstein@variety.com