Addressing speculation about the possible OTT agenda for his company's premium cable network, Les Moonves said there is a "very strong possibility" that CBS Corp. will soon disaggregate Showtime from the pay-TV bundle and offer it to consumers a la carte, over the Internet.
Taking premium cable channels such as HBO and Showtime over-the-top has been a buzz topic for tech bloggers and media watchers for the past several years.
But speaking Wednesday at the Bank of America Merrill Lynch Media, Communications and Entertainment Conference, Moonves confirmed that it's not all just navel gazing.
HBO Nordic--a Western European streaming service that doesn't require a pay-TV subscription--would serve as Showtime's model, Moonves said.
"It's something we're looking at," he noted. "There are ways of going direct to consumer in different packages. … Maybe we make it easier for consumers to get Showtime without a lot of other stuff."
For more:
- read this Deadline Hollywood story
Related links:
CBS' Ianniello: 'Nothing in Showtime's pay-TV contracts says we can't go OTT'
Analyst: HBO could add $600M to its bottom line by offering OTT option
Investment analyst: Murdoch would take HBO out of pay-TV bundle, target Netflix