Moonves: C7 Will Become Standard Measurement 'Within a Year'

CEO says CBS will lead volume, CPM increases during upfronts

By Tim Baysinger -- Broadcasting & Cable, 3/4/2013 8:18:37 PM

CBS Corp. president and CEO Leslie Moonves thinks that C7 measurement will become the standard for advertisers within a year.

Speaking during the Deutsche Bank Media, Internet and Telecom conference on Monday, Moonves mentioned how only 60% of CBS' viewership watches their programming live. "You can't tell what's doing well for a few weeks." He said that more than ten of his shows add 3-4 million viewers per episode.

"I still look at overnight ratings," he admitted. "It does give you an indication into what's doing well and what's not." Moonves said there was "a tipping point" this year.

"I don't know if [C7] happens this quickly [during the current TV season], but it will happen within a year," said Moonves. "The measurement is already there." He says now it's a question of the advertising community and programmers to accept it.

"We want Nielsen to measure everybody," he said. "We want an eyeball to count as an eyeball no matter where you watch your television show."

With upfront season looming, Moonves was asked to give his yearly prediction for how CBS would do. While he declined to give any numbers, he did say that, "CBS will lead volume and CPM increases...We are going to be the leading gainer there, in terms of market share. I have no doubt about that."

Moonves also briefly touched on the always contentious issue of retrans negotiations, admitting that his company has "been the main perpetrators" of driving up sub fees.

"I think we have a great deal of leverage," he said. "Clearly, the value of the network is irreplaceable." Moonves did mention that with all the retrans spats that have led to networks going dark on cable and satellite systems, CBS has yet to go dark. "We view these people as our partner."

With Netflix getting into the original content game, Moonves was asked if he's worried about yet another competitor entering the cluttered TV landscape. "We don't view them as a competitor," he said, before stating that CBS has talked about producing shows for them. "They're paying a lot for our library programming."

Moonves may have spilled the beans on one of Showtime's flagship dramas Dexter, which returns for its eighth season in June. While it is widely believed that the upcoming season will be the serial-killer series' last, entertainment president David Nevins has remained mum on officially announcing. During the conference, Moonves referred to Dexter's upcoming season as its "last."