CBS saga could shake up media

After Moonves exit, takeover possible in new landscape

NEW YORK — The resignation of longtime CBS chief Les Moonves won't likely lead to drastic changes in network programs, but a related deal could make the company ripe for a takeover as traditional media companies compete with upstarts such as Netflix and Amazon.

Moonves was ousted Sunday, just hours after the New Yorker detailed more sexual misconduct allegations against him.

Even before the latest New Yorker article came out, Moonves was already facing pressure to leave. His departure was brokered as part of broader talks with CBS' parent company, National Amusements, over the network's future. Under settlement terms with CBS, National Amusements chief Shari Redstone conceded not to push for combining CBS with sibling company Viacom for at least two years, a merger that Moonves had opposed.

The network was struggling when Moonves took over as entertainment chief in 1995. He quickly turned things around and churned out shows appealing to the older, more traditionbound CBS audience.

Moonves' temporary replacement, Chief Operating Officer Joseph Ianniello, has steered top projects such as stand-alone streaming services for CBS and the Showtime cable channel

For now, Ianniello is unlikely to make drastic changes in programming, particularly since CBS' formula has been working.

B. Riley FBR analyst Barton Crockett said CBS could remain successful without Moonves. He noted the continued success of other networks that have lost top executives to sexual misconduct claims, including Roger Ailes and Bill O'Reilly at Fox News and Matt Lauer at NBC News.

A broader question is whether CBS will remain a standalone company at all.

To better compete with tech companies such as Netflix, companies that have traditionally distributed TV shows and movies have been buying the producers of such programs. The producers, themselves, have been consolidating as well. AT&T bought Time Warner for $85 billion in June, while Disney is in the process of acquiring the entertainment assets of Fox for $71.3 billion.

That makes CBS a hot commodity.

Crockett said possible suitors include AT&T “doubling down” and attempting to buy CBS to complement its recent Time Warner acquisition. Or Verizon, which was rumored to be a suitor in the past, could make an offer as a way to “deepen its content presence and close a content gap with AT&T,” he said.

Offers from Amazon, Apple or Google might be possible as well, if those companies wanted to expand their sports offerings and “vault into a leadership position in production of top tier TV content,” Crockett said.