CBS - CABLERS AGREE TO PAY CBS FOR RETRANSMISSION

CBS chief Les Moonves, who has been insisting that cable networks pay for the right to carry programming aired by its local stations, announced Thursday that it had signed deals with nine smaller cable operators, which combined reach about one million subscribers. Today's (Friday) Wall Street Journal said that it is believed that CBS will receive about 50 cents per subscriber per month from each of the cable companies -- representing the first time CBS has secured cash payment from cable operators for retransmitting its programs. In an interview with today's New York Times, Moonves said that the deals represented "a major milestone" in negotiations with the cable operators. "The important thing here is the precedent," Moonves observed. "The world is changing and this proves it."

23/02/2007