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CBS (NYSE: CBS) does not need to have the press tell its investors that the company is doing poorly. Broadcast advertising has been hit hard by the advertising recession.
So far, none of the CEOs at the large media conglomerates have been fired. With share prices down as much as 75% that may change. CBS could start the trend. The press is beginning to mention the chief of the firm, Les Moonves, as the fall-guy for the company's problems. According to The Wall Street Journal, "Leslie Moonves sometimes gives the impression he could see a glass as half full even if it was upside down."
Aside from facing bad earnings, Moonves is up against the question of whether CBS can keep its dividend at current levels. All of this running in The Wall Street Journal will not help the CEO with his boss, Sumner Redstone, who has debt problems and needs CBS to do well. Redstone is known for firing CEOs on whim.
No matter what the reason, Moonves may have stayed too long. He bought CNET, an online technology news business, last year. That does not seem to have done the company any good. CBS shares are down from a 52-week high of $25.83 to $5.88. When Redstone picks up the paper today, he won't like what he reads. He has pushed executives out for less. With the advertising industry in crisis, it won't matter.
Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 24/7 Wall St.
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