At last week's ANA TV Conference, I must admit 
that I was relishing hearing the might Les speak. Now that I have heard him, I'm not sure whether to say I was pleased or disappointed.
I suppose that part of the experience is to revel in who he is, rather than what he says. He is a powerful man and he controls a boatload of media. That being said, I couldn't help but wonder who controls his strings....his responses revealed no more than a seasoned and somewhat grizzled sales veteran.
Scott Donaton, the svelte Managing Editor of Ad Age was his quizzmaster and thanked Les for helping him preserve his editorial integrity by asking all the tough questions...but I don't know how tough they really were. They were all expected...and the prepared responses were commensurately templated.
For examples, LM would not commit to an exact CPM increase, but did admit that he expected one. He also conceded that branded entertainment/product placement was on the up and up.
STOP THE PRESSES (not)
While acknowledging the rise of the Internet, he posited towards alternative distribution channels, including cellphone and Web snippets such as news clips, sports summaries and one minute CSI episodes (an entire whodunnit in a minute...fuggedaboutit) Of a redeeming nature, Moonves did affirm the notion of "original content for alternative platforms."
Moonves then went on to poo-poo the DVR ('er did you not see the Comcast deal with TiVo?), choosing to ignore the fact that his 6-7% household penetration would double to 12% by the end of the year (sourced from a Magna Global study)
The coup de Will and Grace for me however, were these bytes:
1) When people are "zapping" ads on a DVR, they're paying MORE ATTENTION to commercials. Riiiiiiiiight.
2) On ROI: "I'll get them to the show, after which it's up to you" - oh contraire mon ami...there's a big difference between the show and the ads
3) "We're still the best show in town...where else can you get 30MM people at once?" - er, the Web?
4) "It takes 192 Nip 'n Tucks to get 1 CSI" - isn't this a little disengenuous, or at the very mininum conflicting with point 2) - is content king or not?
I was asked what questions I would have asked Moonves. It's a good question...I'm not sure actually. Perhaps you can ask the questions you would like to have had answered...who knows, maybe they'll find their way to CBS.
jJ
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