Moonves Takes Stage at CES to Tout CBS’s Digital Strategy

LAS VEGAS, January 10: CBS Corporation’s president and CEO,
Leslie Moonves, touted the company’s digital strategy with his keynote at the
Consumer Electronics Show, during which he also announced new alliances with
YouTube and Sling Media.

"There's no such thing as old or new media anymore,”
Moonves declared. “We're just media. Whether 'programming' means CSI or C++,
we're all playing on the same big digital field."

Moonves also noted that CBS is taking a multifaceted
approach in its digital strategy: "In some cases, we're developing our
ideas entirely in house. And in other cases we're forming partnerships to bring
ideas to life," he said.

He continued, "Anything is possible. Audiences know
that, content people know that, and innovators in the digital space know that.
In the weeks and months to come, we'll have a lot more news on how we'll be
working with the interactive community in ways both big and small.”

CES also gave CBS Corporation the opportunity to announce
its new initiative with Sling Media, the so-called “digital lifestyle products
company” behind the Slingbox, which allows users to access their television
sets from any location, using laptops and desktop PCs, PDAs and smartphones.
The two companies will work together on the beta test of a new technology
designed to help audiences share short segments of programming. The trial will
use a new application from Sling Media call Clip+Sling, which was demonstrated
during Moonves’ keynote. The trial is expected to begin in the second quarter.

Clip+Sling gives Slingbox owners the power to clip and share
content directly from live or recorded television. This new feature will be
built into both the desktop and mobile versions of SlingPlayer, the software
interface for the Slingbox.

"CBS is interested in how new media solutions can help
build communities around content," said Quincy Smith, the president of CBS
Interactive. "As we move forward into an increasingly digital and
interactive future, that capability will sometimes come from unexpected places,
products and services that in the past might have been seen as disruptors,
instead of enablers. The entrepreneurs at Sling have caught the attention of a
lot of people. Part of our job as a major media company is to educate ourselves
as to what our audience wants and investigate new ways of reaching them. We
think this new capability, if done with consideration for the content owners,
is intriguing and worthy of study. That's what we intend to do in this beta
test."

"We have always wanted to empower the consumer with our
technology," added Blake Krikorian, the co-founder, chairman and CEO of
Sling Media. "CBS Corporation and Sling Media understand that if you give
customers control in an empowering, content-rich environment then both
consumers and media companies can win big."

The deal is the first for the newly formed Sling Media Entertainment
Group, which was created in December “to define and create rich and engaging
experiences for Slingbox customers.” Jason Hirschhorn, President of the
division, noted, "The Internet and new consumer technologies have fostered
a clip culture around video. It's the new water cooler. With Clip+Sling and our
relationship together with CBS, we're embracing that behavior by making it easy
enough for everyone to use while creating revenue and promotional opportunities
for content owners."

CBS’s deal with YouTube, meanwhile, will bring
user-generated content to the television screen. With the new community
campaign called "15 Seconds,” viewers can post their 15-second so-called
“inspirational messages” on YouTube, and CBS then chooses the best viewer videos
to be broadcast on the network.

Every two weeks, CBS will select five and post them on
CBS.com. From the videos posted on CBS.com, CBS will select at least one video
for possible broadcast each calendar quarter on the CBS network. The first
viewer video will be broadcast before the game during CBS Sports’ daytime
coverage of the Super Bowl on February 4.