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We live in interesting times. The old media giants are just money-losing properties out of phase with a new arrangement in which networks, free and cable, are being replaced with streaming subscription packages.
When Discovery found it had CNN on its hands, it tried to clean house because the cable news network is an unwanted drain.
But an even bigger legacy name in news may be circling the drain. Think Cronkite and Rather.
Equity analyst Steven Cahall of bank Wells Fargo gives Paramount Corp. another “1-2 years” of throwing “good money… after bad,” chasing a streaming profit that may never come, and riding out the last gasps of linear television, before “the break-up becomes inevitable.”
The “good money” within Paramount Global lies inside its studios, which Cahall sees as worth about $30 billion in a sale, per a note he sent to clients on Thursday…
That’s the general consensus surrounding Paramount Global: It’s got great studios and a deep library, but the suite of cable channels and other antiquated assets belong in the bargain bin. Even broadcast network CBS, despite regularly drawing the most viewers on television, is more of a burden than a blessing in potential M&A activity.
For example, NBCUniversal parent Comcast would have good reason (and good money) to buy Paramount Global in its entirety — heck, Paramount+ could even be the thing that saves Peacock — but owning both NBC and CBS is an FCC no-no.
The short version is that CBS isn’t seen as an asset anymore in the equity game, it’s a platform in an era where everyone is chasing subscription platforms, not ad-supported network viewing. (This is dumb, but that’s the current business model that the industry is using to bankrupt itself.)
And, in this arrangement, CBS News is particularly useless. Paramount is already prepping a sale of its iconic broadcast center.
CBS is “eyeing” a momentous move from its longtime broadcast facilities on West 57th Street. Sources said the network, which merged with Viacom in 2019 into what’s now called Paramount Global, is expected to soon put out a request for proposals to solicit offers on two fronts.
One might be to sell CBS’s sprawling, 600,000 square-foot broadcast center on West 57th between Tenth and Eleventh avenues — the long-ago site of a dairy depot, where CBS has had a presence since the 1950s.
The RFP would also seek a new location in Manhattan for the network’s broadcast home.
And it’s signaling that it doesn’t see CBS News as having any value.
Fast forward to 2022. Viacom, a company founded in 1972 by, you guessed it, William S. Paley, has announced a name change from ViacomCBS to Paramount. If you have not read the official press release, it is fascinating. The four-page document details every program and franchise the company owns, even Beavis and Butt-Head, but with one notable exception. Other than one line of fine print at the bottom, there is no mention of CBS. CBS News is not mentioned at all.
In fact, the only reference to “news” in the entire release, which makes clear that Paramount will be a global entertainment company, comes as one word in a long string of product offerings on the Paramount streaming service. Even then, there is no CBS.
That’s obviously a bad signal. But CNN already demonstrated that trying to charge for subscriptions to a news channel won’t work with CNN+. In an environment where the goal is to monetize intellectual properties to churn out content gated behind paywalls, CBS News looks like a giant pointless weight dragging it down and obstructing its new business model.
Both CBS’s morning and evening newscasts are low rated and lose money, so both could be canceled. Although you will never hear it said out loud, many affiliates would welcome cancellation of The CBS Evening News. This would return a valuable half hour of local news inventory to the stations.
When you think about it, CBS News’ only major asset is 60 Minutes, a self-contained unit with no need of a news department.
Why would a company that bills itself as a global entertainment entity want to support a money-losing news enterprise that could be jobbed out? Affiliates would simply fill the time with local news, or — think about this — syndicated programming from Paramount.
A world without CBS News is not only plausible, it may be only a few years away.
Mo de Profit says
Today’s business world seems to have become very lazy.
Ads? Outsource to Google and they become “in your face” overload.
Subscription? Doesn’t seem to work but it is real easy to code with little effort, probably outsourced too.
Then there’s the “crowdfunding” model, again outsourced.
PragerU has a non profit model that seems successful but they also seem to be working real hard to sell their message.
Traditional newspapers had a team of sales people selling advertising and competing with each other.
Social media and news sites seem to be mostly run by leftist elites who are anti capitalist so maybe they don’t consider themselves to need sales teams.
I work for a commercial training company and have done for the last twenty years, employee of the month and year has almost always gone to someone from sales.
Coach says
Great news! Thank you for this encouraging news. Maybe the displayed comrades can learn to code.
Glee says
Good article, but your view that “subscription vs ad support is a dumb move” is wrong. Americans are realizing through decades of ad-based support that news supported by advertising has given companies (and financial/government affiliates) control over the narrative. That’s not a viable model for gaining trustworthy information. Ads can supplement if there is a proportional limit and a “no interference” clause. But if we want real journalism (and we do), we’re going to have to pay for it. The days of free-wheeling propaganda being passed off as truth are over for every thinking American.
The current problem is that it costs too much to subscribe to all the news media channels I am interested in. What I want to see is one news aggregate site that offers a user-based subscription. (That is, for example, one price for, say 100 clicks a month and another for 300 clicks.) the site could then divvy up the subscription fee to the journalists or outlets, based on subscriber clicks for their article. The journalist’s pay bonuses would be tied to those clicks (less HUGE penalties for spin and lying). That kind of model would incentivize real journalism and eliminate stupid clucks like “Madam Madcow” and “Lusty Lemon” and the US bribery government from having a misleading voice.
SPURWING PLOVER says
CBS Sunday Morning 60 Minutes CBS MORNING NEWS The Cumby System is going from bad to worse and its just about always been that way
Jeff Bargholz says
I’ve noticed local news programs are very popular………..with morons. And unless you live in a major city the local news isn’t local to your location, which makes its viewers even dumber.
CBS has a streaming site with some good shows on it such as, “Star Trek Picard” “Star Trek Strange New Worlds,” Taylor Sheridan’s “1883” with Sam Elliot, “1923” with Harrison Ford and original movies and some other good stuff. Sheridan is the workaholic who made both excellent “Sicario” movies and the very popular “Yellowstone” series with Kevin Costner. “1883” and “1923” are precursors to “Yellowstone” about the Dutton family. “1923” is by far the best. Most of the content seems crappy to me but plenty of people like sports. I think it has the execrable and unbearably woke Grrl power “Star Trek Discovery” on it too but don’t watch that if you have firearms in your house because you’ll blow your brains out to stop the torture.
I streamed every show I mentioned on a free pirate site or whatever they called, so thanks for the free material, CBS, Viacom and Paramount. Ha HAW! You mo-fos aren’t getting any money out of me.
Algorithmic Analyst says
The local news around here is like watching Communist propaganda.
Jeff Bargholz says
I’ll bet. And “if it bleeds, it leads.” If there isn’t any murder or violent act available, they’ll report the worst crime available. It’s always the same formula. Ghouls.
Christopher Robert Riddle says
CBS”NEWS”has been Gone for Years!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Çâşëğ says
Not only CBS. The entire cable ecosystem is in downward dead spiral. All those cable outlets rely on cable fees to stay alive. As more and more people cut the cord the less cable fees to go around. That is the real story. And that is what terrifies American Marxist. People getting the news from outside Marxist eco system.
Jeff Bargholz says
I got rid of cable years ago. It’s overpriced and it sucks anyway. I have two hundred channels that came free with my tv, Netflix and I can stream most any movie or streaming channel show for free on pirate sites.
RobL says
CBS evening news with NO. No is about right. Who would watch her drool out of both sides of her mouth, saying absolutely nothing of value for 30 minutes?
Thorkel Nelson says
I have cable, but the screen is usually dark because I prefer to read on the internet. I go to online news aggregators instead, like this one. For the people who prefer video with their morning coffee, it has been suggested in this thread that we pay for an online video news/opinion aggregator (that shares revenue [by clicks] with the source?). I rather like that idea, as I, like the poster, cannot pay for all the sites I might watch. Internet is also better because you can speed up the video, making a show of 60 minutes less than 40 minutes >. I also like the idea proposed that there be a non-interference (not clause, but law) preventing advertisers from controlling what’s presented on-air, helping to control people like Larry Fink from creating a monster in his own image.
Jeff Bargholz says
Buy a Samsung smart TV. Newsmax and Real America’s Voice come free with the TV. It has about two hundred free channels and a whole bunch of movie sites, several of them free. And smart TVs have internet access. Do yourself a favor and ditch your cable.
Algorithmic Analyst says
Too bad about Walter Cronkite. I used to enjoy his “New Year’s from Vienna” concerts.
I remember him shedding a tear when JFK died.
Jeff Bargholz says
Too bad? What happened?
Algorithmic Analyst says
Well, my understanding is he got pushed out so Dan Rather could replace him. Or something like that 🙂
They used to have some real talents, like Eric Sevareid during WW2. Now they just have a string of mediocrities.
BLSinSC says
cbs, nbc, abc, cnn are like that Soprano guy said “same sh(t, different toilet”!!