CBS CEO Les Moonves appeared on CNBC’s Squawk Box this morning, and talked about his network and others.
He said he was impressed by how well NBC did in the ratings, and emailed NBC CEO Jeff Zucker after. “We emailed a few times, and I congratulated him on the great job that NBC did, much as I hated to compliment him,” he said. “But they really did, and I think it’s outstanding for network television that night after night the ratings were up considerably for the Olympics.”
In that same context, he was asked about cable vs. broadcast and told, “you cable guys,” his thoughts.
“There is no place else on earth you can aggregate those kind of people,” he said of broadcast TV’s impact. “To get 25 million people to watch CSI. Get 37 million people watch the vice presidential nominee the other night. Network television is the best game in town.”