Click here to read the complete interview with Moonves.
CBS is in a good enough position elsewhere in the
company that it no longer needs to spend on sports properties that are loss
leaders, according to President and CEO Leslie Moonves.
"We are no longer going to bid for loss leaders, we
don't need to do that," he said. "We don't need to invest in something we
will lose money on to help [other parts of the business]."
Moonves made the comments in an interview with B&C Executive Editor Melissa Grego at the 2010 Broadcasting & Cable/Multichannel News
OnScreen Media Summit at the Marriott Marquis in New York Thursday.
He also said that at the prices NBC Universal spent
in its last deal, CBS will have little interest in acquiring the next round of
Olympics.
"Not at the prices they seem to be going for," he
said.
Moonves noted that the recent partnership with
Turner Sports to split the NCAA basketball package pushed the division into the
black.
"When we had the NCAA tournament [the sports
division was not profitable], but now the CBS sports division is profitable
because of that deal. We were looking at sizeable loss [on the NCAA deal],
which is why we reached out. It sort of saves our bacon for the NCAA. But
our other sports are doing fine. We wish Tiger Woods would come back, that's
very helpful for us. We wish the US Open wouldn't rain out every year."
