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CBS could be on the verge of making some major moves on both the buy and sell side, with Deadline reporting that it’s looking to buy Starz, while CEO Leslie Moonves on Tuesday said that the company was putting its radio stations on the block.
Meanwhile, CBS also plans to add three to four original series each year to its CBS All Access subscription video on demand (SVOD) platform, reported Variety.
John Malone’s Liberty Media owns 49 percent of the voting shares in Starz, and the company has been in merger talks with Lionsgate. Lionsgate owns 14.7% of the voting shares in Starz.
RELATED: Lionsgate Exploring Starz Acquisition
Should CBS instead step in and acquire Starz — and it sounds like talks are at a very early stage — most would expect CBS to merge Starz with its premium cable network Showtime to create an even more competitor competitor to HBO and Netflix. Starz airs such shows as Outlander and Black Sails and has been coming on stronger with originals in the past few years.
One way CBS could raise cash to finance such a deal is to sell its radio assets, on which CBS took a $484 million write-down in the fourth quarter, making them a drag on the share price. CBS owns 117 radio stations in 26 markets. CBS Chairman and CEO Moonves said during CBS Investor Day in New York that the move would “unlock value for our shareholders.”
The country’s second-largest radio group, Cumulus Media, has been mentioned as a potential buyer.
On the new media side, Moonves said that CBS plans to release three to four original series per year on CBS All Access. The first of those will be the new version of Star Trek, which is expected to premiere early next year on the broadcast network to attract subscribers and then move exclusively to All Access.
Unlike radio, digital is a growth business. Said Moonves: All Access is helping CBS position itself for “a future where consumers may very well pick and choose their own program lineup.”
[Image courtesy of Variety]
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