In announcing “record results" for CBS Corp. during both the final quarter of ‘13 and for the full year, CBS President & CEO Les Moonves noted the network’s recent win of the NFL’s Thursday night package, according to Alex Ben Block of the HOLLYWOOD REPORTER. Moonves: “We submitted a very responsible bid that was greatly helped by our position as the top network in America and the best platform to grow the NFL’s Thursday night audience.” He said that while the deal with the NFL for Thursday is for only one year, the net hopes to "impress the league enough with how well they do with the games to win a long-term extension of the deal.” Moonves “also reiterated that the NFL games will provide a powerful platform in late summer and early fall to promote the networks new line up of shows, which due to football will now mostly begin in late October, instead of mid-September as has been usual in past years” (HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, 2/13). In L.A., Meg James writes CBS is “glowing after last week’s coup.” Moonves yesterday would "not say whether the nearly" $300M-a-year deal would “be profitable for the company.” However, he did stress the "benefits of the additional eight NFL games to the CBS-owned TV stations, CBS’ overall ratings and as a vehicle to promote other shows on the network’s schedule” (L.A. TIMES, 2/13). Moonves “set a new target” of $2B in retransmission fees and reverse compensation by '20. CBS COO Joe Ianniello noted that the NFL games "may help CBS’ push for more cash from distributors” (N.Y. POST, 2/13).
