Les Moonves, CEO of the CBS Corp. has kept the media company moving in a pretty conservative direction in relation to over-the-top video delivery. It's been slow to embrace Hulu, unlike its fellow travelers who all own a piece of it. CBS didn't launch it's first app for the iPad until July, a full quarter after the red-hot tablet hit the streets. And, while he's appeared to be a proponent of TV Everywhere, he still sees extensive digital distribution of the networks content a little differently than his peers, saying for months the company will "make deals when it makes sense."
Speaking at the UBS investor conference in New York Tuesday, Moonves again took a conservative stance toward online distribution, vowing that the network will take its time in making decisions about OTT distribution.
"Some CEOs think Netflix is the anti-Christ," said Moonves. "Others embrace it as the Second Coming. We're somewhere in the middle. Caution is not a bad thing here."
Moonves said that CBS has solid relations with pay-TV operators who he expects to collect some $250 million in retrans fees from this year.
And, he reiterated earlier statements that those relationships mean CBS is willing to cooperate with pay-TV providers in their TV Everywhere initiatives when it makes sense. For now, he said, the "technology isn't quite there yet."
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