Thursday April 14, 2016
When asked during a radio interview yesterday (4/13) about his recent comments that CBS will sell/spin-off its owned and operated radio stations, CBS Corporation Chairman, President and CEO Leslie Moonves doubled down, telling San Diego Sports/Talker and ‘Mighty 1090 AM’ morning host Dan Sileo, “As the world has progressed and as we’ve moved into much more digital and much more streaming, it is a world for us that is keyed on video.
Radio is still a wonderful, wonderful business, so our intent is to spin-off radio so it is its own stand alone company, which will fit better than being a big part of conglomerate like ours’ that is keyed more on television. By no means do we think that radio’s not a great business. It’s a slower growth business, but we have 117 radio stations that we think will be a great stand-alone company.”
Acknowledging Sileo’s assertion that CBS was actually built on radio from its earliest days, Moonves added, “By no means are we deserting the radio business. But video right now, is where CBS is heading with the CBS Television Network,Showtime and what we are doing digitally.
Radio became a different sort of business that really doesn’t fit where we are going. As a stand-alone, high cash, relatively low-growth business it will do really, really well, and it will do better as a stand alone than as part of the other divisions of CBS.”
Hear the full interview HERE.
this boggles my mind, but… one thing I do love about it, is the opportunity to get these CBS radion in local hands as independents. I also call Bullshit that AM is dead. Its very much alive. Just imagine the great CBC AM radio frequencies becoming available for Indy’s… It would be a dream to get the old CKUA AM Frequency which totally covers Alberta and many parts of Western Canada at 580 on the AM dial. I can only hope the CRTC will put a hold on issuing this license.
“radio is a wonderful, wonderful, business, except not for (CBS) us ?”
What a cop out ! sounds like b.s. to me ….