CBS EYES RECORD PROFITS

CBS chief Les Moonves sounded positively jubilant as the company reported record second-quarter earnings. Predicting that 2012 will represent a record year for the company, Moonves pointed out that it will benefit from increased political advertising in advance of the presidential election and that it is currently showing increased results for its billboard business in the U.K. from the London Olympics. “And as we head into 2013, we will benefit from the Super Bowl, CBS’s success in the upfront marketplace, as well as from a number of hit shows that will be sold into syndication,” Moonves said. Operating income for the quarter rose 5 percent from a year ago to $769 million, while net earnings rose 8 percent to $427 million. Those increases came despite a slight decrease in overall revenue to $3.48 billion from $3.59 billion during the same quarter a years go. In a conference call, Moonves expressed confidence that CBS and the other broadcast networks will inevitably prevail in their lawsuit against Aereo, Barry Diller’s service that uses a huge bank of tiny antennas to grab programs off the air and allow users with smartphones and/or tablets to stream them online. Referring to a federal court’s recent refusal to grant the networks a temporary injunction to block Aereo, Moonves said, “It is not even the first out in the first inning.”