Digital streams of CBS's older television shows are helping boost its bottom line. CBS announced that their profits doubled for the past quarter - $395 million, as compared to $150 million for the same time period a year ago.
"How?" you ask, "if nobody is watching as much traditional TV anymore." Well, time spent in front of the old TV – super-sized flat-screen or not – may be down, but watching of TV shows is up – particularly old shows sitting in CBS's library of programs of older shows via digital streaming screens.
Both Amazon and Netflix are in negotiation deals for shows like "Frasier," "Star Trek," and "Medium," which is cool if you're a fan of those shows and don't want to have to be anchored in front of a TV set to watch them, and even cooler if you're a CBS shareholder, where the streaming of such shows doesn't detract from already established revenue streams.
OK, it's true that CBS won't make current hit series available for digital streaming services right now. They are a TV network, after all. The company is protecting its ratings for network runs and advertising revenues that high ratings for shows like "NCIS" bring in.
It's been said that if you leverage your assets, you'll always show a profit. For companies like CBS it's apparently as simple as leveraging their past in today's digital present. Like loyalty and engagement it's also being able to better meet – even exceed – customers' expectations.
Because if you can successfully do that, you'll live long and prosper.
