Katie Bar the Door

From an investor's viewpoint, there's really nothing to say about Katie Couric leaving NBC to host the CBS Evening News. Except my understanding is that improving CBS News is one of Les Moonves' priorities in boosting the company's fortunes.

So in that respect, maybe. Otherwise my hunch is that when we look back 3-5 years from now, it will all just be noise. Deafening at times if you happen to watch "entertainment" type newscasts, to be sure, but noise nonetheless. (It is interesting that Couric will apparently be paid less at CBS than NBC. But the CBS Evening News only makes a fraction of the Today Show's revenues, so it makes sense.)

I remain cautiously optimistic about owning CBS (CBS/NYSE). I think the company is cheap. Some say it deserves to be, being an "old media" company. I think they're underestimating the company's assets. Then again, the stock is down a bit since I bought it. So I could always be wrong.

Comments

[jr]

Implications of Couric going to CBS:

Marginal negative for NBC as the Today show brought in $500M in ad revs (3.5% of NBC Universal total ad revs per Bloomberg)and could decline $100M at most.

Likely neutral for CBS as Schieffer had already improved CBS's ratings substantially and was on his way to making the CBS Evening News #1 among the alphabet channels.

Negative for viewers as quality global news coverage and journalism continues its downward spiral into oblivion and is replaced by sensationalistic current event type reporting appealing to the 18-45 yr old US demographic/centric bracket.

Putting aside the rant, it demonstrates that Moonves is intent on improving CBS's rankings and bringing in more ad revenues, which remain a majority of the parent company's sales.

[John]

jr,

I knew that Schieffer (sp?) had boosted the ratings of CBS Evening News, but I don't follow the ratings battle between it and ABC and NBC enough to know that CBS would be number one with him.

And, yeah, news in the US has been going more and more tabloid for years. Probably even before cable news came along.

All that said, if Moonves does for CBS News what he did for the entertainment division, that will truly be an achievement.