Think CBS chief Les Moonves is reveling, à la Time Warner's (NYSE: TWX) Jeff Bewkes, in Netflix (Nasdaq: NFLX) continuing struggles? Think again.
Moonves on Tuesday told the UBS Global Media and Communications Conference that a healthy Netflix helps CBS take advantage of digital distribution deals for its programming that have become increasingly lucrative.
Moonves, who has sometimes been reticent about making deals with online video outlets, most notably Hulu, nonetheless has approved numerous deals with Netflix, reiterating Tuesday that CBS was looking forward to the streaming video company's international expansion--especially in the United Kingdom and Canada--and likely rebound from its subscriber losses.
"We want a healthy Netflix. We're rooting for them. We hope they continue to remain strong," he said, adding that the company has become "much more of a friend than a foe."
CBS deals with Netflix and Amazon (Nasdaq: AMZN) Prime Instant Video for its library content have generated hundreds of millions in revenue and Moonves said he expects that "revenue stream to continue forever," despite some analysts suggesting it would sow down.
To that end, Moonves said CBS would continue to work to make non-exclusive deals with online companies, including the likes of Google (Nasdaq: GOOG), Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL).
"You have not heard the last of these deals," he said.
For more:
- see this Hollywood Reporter article
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