CBS (NYSE: CBS) CEO Leslie Moonves’ total compensation in 2010 jumped to a staggering $57.7 million, up from $43 million in 2009, according to the company’s latest proxy statement. That’s still below the huge $67.7 million payday he received in pre-recession 2007, but from the footnotes in the filing it…

CBS Interactive (NYSE: CBS) display ad sales rose 17 percent, reflecting the wider turnaround in advertising media companies have been enjoying this year, even as economic uncertainty persists. Although CBS itself didn’t have syndication boost it had from the sales of five major shows in Q309, which caused total revenues…

Hulu has had recent discussions with CBS (NYSE: CBS) about bringing CBS content to the new Hulu Plus subscription service, and CBS CEO Les Moonves described that possibility at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia Conference as “interesting” and one that remains under consideration. “It makes a lot more sense to us…

CBS (NYSE: CBS) Corp believes Les Moonves is the guy to lead and protect the TV net revenues in face of digital erosion, so much so that it has extended his CEO contract until 2015, and has incentivized him to renew after that, it announced today. Moonves’ contract was slated…

I am at the Paley Center in midtown Manhattan, for their big yearly powwow on the future of global media and entertainment, listening to Katie Couric interview Jeff Bewkes and Les Moonves. Among the other questions, an audience member asked about the low ratings of CNN, compared to Fox and…

Add *CBS* CEO Leslie Moonves to the growing of media execs seeing signs of hope as the second quarter of 2009 hits the midpoint. Moonves told analysts on the company’s Q1 earnings call that CBS (NYSE: CBS) is “seeing early signs of improvement in the advertising market place both locally…

It’s not usually a good sign when your earnings report starts with a vote of confidence from the boss and is followed by an explanation about why the same quarter last year was so good. CBS Corp. (NYSE: CBS) lost $55.3 million, or $0.8 per share, in the first quarter,…

During the CBS Q4 earnings call, CEO Leslie Moonves offered TV.com’s relaunch as an example of how CBS Interactive is doing post-CNET Networks acquisition: “It’s clearly going to be a very, very big player in what is clearly a fast-growing category.” The numbers sound great—TV.com has added thousands of video…

CBS (NYSE: CBS) CEO Leslie Moonves raved about the value of the CNET acquisition and the integration since the merger with CBS Interactive, but told investors he wouldn’t make the same deal today. “The CNET deal was in May.…Life was very different. We would not be doing that acquisition today.”…

After a quick introduction for their Q&A session at the Interactive Advertising Bureau’s Mixx conference, IAB head Randall Rothenberg asked *CBS* CEO Leslie Moonves something he’s been asked a lot lately: Why spend $1.8 billion on *CNET*? —From old media to new instantly: Moonves: We are a content company. Some…

After going over the new fall shows, Les Moonves, CBS Corp.‘s (NYSE: CBS) president and CEO, offered words of praise for DVRs and TiVo (NSDQ: TIVO), claiming that video-on-demand hasn’t hurt ad dollars. Speaking at Goldman Sachs’ Communacopia conference, Moonves said he was also surprised by how the demand for…

After having listened to several of these so far this quarter, conference call intros are getting pretty predictable: The economy is weak, but business is holding up, and don’t forget to look at all that cash we’re throwing off. CBS (NYSE: CBS) CEO Les Moonves explained that the company is…

While others deal with the integration of CNET (NSDQ: CNET) Networks into CBS Interactive (NYSE: CBS), CBS CEO Leslie Moonves has to keep selling the strategy and the acquisition to his own grumbling shareholders. He told paidContent this afternoon he still believes the new CBS Interactive will have $1 billion…

Just got off the phone with CBS CEO Leslie Moonves in his first interview following the announcement that CBS (NYSE: CBS) will acquire CNET (NSDQ: CNET) for $1.8 billion in cash. Moonves said CBS had looked at CNET for more than a year but initiated discussions only six-eight weeks ago.…

From the filings and stories, executive salary watch for some media companies:—MSLO: Martha Stewart, founder of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia (NYSE: MSO), received $2.06 million in compensation for 2007 while company CEO Susan Lyne received a little over $1 million as the company returned to profitability, reports AP, citing the…

Networks executives have been slammed over their apparent doublespeak when it comes to digital media. How can digital represent such a boon, but there still not be any extra money to pay the striking writers? A month into the strike, it looks like they may be getting better at threading…