CBS' Moonves disses Aereo: 'A lot of attention for a service nobody was using'

Handling a barrage of relevant questions from investors following CBS Corp.'s Q2 earnings report, CBS chief executive Les Moonves said his company has renewed its deal with Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX), that it won't be buying CNN, and that 75 percent of its commercials will soon be sold off of C7 audience metrics.

Moonves also took shots at a foe seemingly vanquished by CBS in the U.S. Supreme Court in June, streaming service Aereo, glibly noting that broadcasters can now go about their business without the "distraction" of having an SVOD service with a reported 70,000 subscribers around.

Aereo, he said, commanded "a lot of attention for a service that virtually nobody was using."

As for Netflix, and its nearly 50 million subscribers worldwide, Moonves said CBS recently completed a programming renewal deal with the SVOD company. However, the agreement entails less programming than was covered in the parties' initial pact made three years ago.

As for CNN, Moonves said a deal to acquire the venerable cable news brand is "obviously not going to happen now" that 21st Century Fox has withdrawn its bid for CNN parent Time Warner Inc. He dismissed speculation about the potential CBS acquisition as being "silly" and said it never progressed into a serious discussion of any kind.

Moonves also noted that TV Everywhere product Showtime Anytime "was a little behind HBO Go, but we've caught up. We're now in most of the country."

For more:
- listen to this CBS Corp. Q2 earnings report webcast

Related link:
Judge strikes down Aereo's 'emergency' attempt to resume service
Barry Diller really is done with Aereo, takes write-down on company
CBS' Moonves: Aereo never tried to work with us