Some highlights from the CBS 4Q06 earnings call with Chairman Sumner Redstone and CEO Leslie Moonves: (transcript by SeekingAlpha):
MMOD: Moonves: “Our out-of-market online game coverage turned out to be a huge hit. So this year, we’ve sold it much more aggressively and project to double our revenues and increase our profits sixfold. This is a trend that we expect to continue as this medium grows.”
M&A: Moonves: “We have also set up an investment fund and are investing in a variety of companies that will lead us into this space as well. There has been so much activity on the Internet front already it’s hard to believe that this is just the beginning.” In response to a query about investment and acquisition plans, Moonves added: “Obviously we are investing in a rather small way in a variety of new media assets. We do believe in their long-term growth and that that’s where a lot of our revenue is going to come from in the future. It’s really hard to assess where that is. ... As it stands now we still believe in the blocking and tackling of our basic assets which are television, radio and outdoor and they’re still great businesses. There will be obviously revenue and profit migrating into new media assets and we intend to be there in quite a large way.”
YouTube: Moonves: “It’s hard to do an absolute cause and effect, but we know it absolutely is helping. We are looking at every single outlet there is for our content.”
Google: Without directly answering a question about the Google deal falling through, Moonves said: “Our TV library is unbelievably valuable and it is relatively undermined. We have not put a lot of properties out there. The main reason—this sort of ties into your second question—is we want to get paid appropriately for it. We will eventually have our library out there, it will be on demand either through advertising, subscription or pay per view, some way shape or form, we just value it very highly and very dearly.”
Related:
-- Earnings: CBS’s Q4 Profits At $355 Million