There are a lot of things that keep Les Moonves up at night, but worrying about ad revenue in 2009 isn't one of them, CBS' chief executive told investors today during the company's third quarter earnings call.
"We do not have the fear of that falling off the cliff," Moonves said when questioned about national advertising. And what about rumors that advertisers may pull half of their upfront commitments for '09? Is Moonves worried about advertising for next year? It doesn't look like it. Moonves says his advertisers are excited about 2009:
Moonves noted that ongoing ad sales for the current season are "obviously not booming as in years past," but CBS has seen "no great slowdown in national advertising," and that most major ad categories are "hanging in there."
Furthermore, Moonves thinks that the current ratings strength of the CBS Television
Network, which has led the ratings in all key demographics over the first five weeks of the season, will make the company a "beneficiary" of ad spending in the coming weeks.
UPDATE: This post has been updated with info from the conference call transcript.
