Les Moonves: We're worth more, really!

-SDH At Citigroup's Annual Global Entertainment, Media & Telecommunications Conference, CBS CEO Les "Love Boat" Moonves tried to convince Wall Streeters and perhaps himself and Sumner Redstone that CBS's shares are undervalued. Les also assured those in attendance that the looming economic downturn and the ongoing writers strike won't hit CBS. And here we were thinking it was only News Corp that was economic downturn and writer strike proof. Les said that he is still on the prowl for new media acquisitions with growth potential and a founder willing to stay on knowing he/she will be canned in about a year or two after the acquisition. Hey Les how is the music business going for you? The fundamentals of all our businesses are sound," said Moonves, as he launched into a presentation he said was designed to convince Wall Street that his company's shares are undervalued. CBS Corp sees growth in all divisions in 2008: CEO [Reuters]

Media big wigs gear up to hunt at the Consumer Electronics Show in Vegas

In search of their next digital delivery method, media and entertainment execs will hop on their corporate jets and head down to Vegas for The Annual Consumer Electronic Show. During breaks from gambling and boozing, they will no doubt prowl and brown nose the techies to hopefully get in on the next big thing, where they could possibly push their content in our faces. Newly appointed Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes apparently just found out that we are moving rapidly into a digital way of life. -SDH "This company has to move fast," Jeff Bewkes, Time Warner's newly appointed chief executive, said on the company's latest quarterly conference call with analysts. "The world is changing fast. It's going digital. It's going global." Media moguls are looking to annual tech extravaganza in Las Vegas as they try to keep up with change [Marketwatch]

Disney's Robert Iger: VOD Sucks ass

-YOSH Thursday at the Sanford C. Bernstein Media Symposium, Disney CEO Bob Iger had some gripes to share with the audience. He is not a big fan of VOD, and is pushing for a more usable feature to be added to the service. Apparently he has the service at home based on the way he talks like someone with experience. He says that a Google like search feature needs to be added to the service if its going to survive. "Type in "rat DVD" at Google and you'll easily find Ratatouille, he said, but that's far from the case for VOD" He said he's had better luck at Time Warner Cable's Web site when seeking programming than with a TV remote control: "And if I want to find something VOD-related, oh my God!" Disney CEO Touts Net [Adweek]

European Media bigs soaked, video please

-MARTY Mediamonkey is reporting that during a gathering this morning of Europe's media leaders, expensive suits and hairdos were ruined when the fire sprinkler system went off shutting down the entire conference causing a rat like scattering of media elites. Can you imagine the poor bastards who were snoozing through the yawn fest? Mediamonkey is hoping for a video, and so are we. We wouldn't mind something like this happening at a gathering of America's media heavies. The culprit: a spot-lighting rig jacked up to within inches of the sprinkler system clearly overheating and triggering the downpour. Monkey, spared a drenching, watched as just a few seats along Richard Hytner, deputy chairman worldwide for Saatchi & Saatchi, proved to be surprisingly agile in diving for cover. Sprinkling of talent at media summit [Media Monkey]

NBC Uni's Beth Comstock, loves the word viewsers, had the audience until she started that corporate lingo shit

NBC Universal's digital czarette Beth Comstock recently spoke at the AMC. Backed by a huge slide show, Comstock spit her views on the future and present of digital media. Rebecca L. Fox over at Fishbowlyny.com gives a run down on Comstock's presentation, and how she seemed to know what she was talking about even though she may have lost the audience when she got into her boardroom lingo. Though Comstock's talk of mantras and the breakdown she offered of different types of online viewsers dipped a bit far into corporate meeting-speak for us (life managers, info hounds and connectors, meet self-expressers, creators and escapists), the ultimate goal rang true for TV and magazine companies alike: "to know viewsers so well, we can serve content they don't even know they like yet ... [creating] a world where content follows the viewser. Our role is as concierge." AMC 2007: NBC Prez: Content Co.s Must Know Consumers 'Like We've Never Known Them Before' [FBNY]

New media bosses weigh in on What the media world will look like in 2012

Ever wonder what the media world will look like in a few years? Who will be around, who wont, Which companies will still be in business? What new ways will big media utilize to shove their content down our throats? Well at the recent WeMedia conference in Miami, the whois who of new media shared their predictions with those in attendance, but we have to say some of it is already happening, but you know how these guys are. They like to tell themselves they just came up with it. What will the media world look like in 2012? Ian Rowe said that in 2012, MTV will have a very different relationship with its audience. Right now, MTV decides which programmes to show and when to show them, but in 2012 there might not be long-form content. "They want short form content when they want it on their device of choice . We're going to have a lot more input from young people in terms of the creative process." But it's exciting that people have platforms that empower them to speak out. We have no idea what the image above has to do with this post at all. WeMedia conference, Miami [Guardian]

Analysts attempt to predict Rupe and Barry's next move as they yap about their companies today

Suddenly Rupert Murdoch is an Internet big shot along side long time Internet big shots like Barry Diller. Analysts are speculating about what their next moves will be even if they love News Corp more than they do Diller's Interactive Corp. The head honchos of IAC/InterActiveCorp and News Corp appear to believe that the ability to deliver content and interact with audiences offers a strategically prescient opportunity. That's probably why we will see luminaries Barry Diller, chairman of IACI, and Rupert Murdoch, chairman of News Corp., each delivering keynote addresses at The McGraw-Hill Companies' 2007 Media Summit in New York City today and tomorrow, say Standard & Poor's analysts. Diller and Murdoch Work the Web [Businessweek]

William Morris Agency, to host media bigs in Palm Springs, for them to talk about the same shit they talked about in Sun Valley

As if media execs don't have enough excuses to compare dick sizes and soak up sun while their underlings are stuck back at the office trying not to get fired, the William Morris Agency is seducing media bigs to come down to Palm Springs for a Allen & Co. style retreat for them to sit together and find out where their industry is going? We are almost a month into the new year and this is still a question? On Monday, he delivered the keynote speech in Las Vegas at the nation's largest consumer electronics show. He sat in the audience at the MacWorld conference in San Francisco on Tuesday as his company's largest shareholder, Apple Inc. co-founder Steve Jobs, unveiled the much-anticipated iPhone. Today, Iger was scheduled to touch down in Palm Springs to share his message with 320 talent agents.Talent agents? Jim Wiatt, chairman of William Morris, Hollywood's oldest talent agency, has coaxed some big moguls to his corporate retreat to pontificate about the future of the entertainment business. In addition to Iger, the program includes Starbucks Corp. Chairman Howard Schultz and MySpace Chief Executive Chris DeWolfe. These power retreats have become the new thing in Hollywood. William Morris embraces the glitz of power retreats [LA Times]

The media world's answer to the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival

C Squared Communications CEO Charlie Crowe is taking his media festival on the road this year. This will no doubt be another reason for media bigs to compare dick sizes and soak up some sun. "Our primary targets are the people who motivate media buying and media creativity and innovation," he said. "Our secondary targets are creatives -- they have their place in the sun -- although we do acknowledge that it is important to reflect the business properly, so some senior creative heads will be on the conference platform." Mr. Crowe thinks it's about time media had its own place in the sun -- if not beach-side, then canal-side. In 2005, he started Cream in the belief that "media companies needed to be more creative in how they use their client's money and to differentiate themselves on the basis of quality and creativity." C Squared Launches Venice Festival of Media [Ad Age]