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Paramount Skydance Corporation Class B Common Stock (PSKY)

Q1 2016 Earnings Call· Tue, May 3, 2016

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Transcript

Operator

Operator

Good day, everyone, and welcome to the CBS Corporation First Quarter 2016 Earnings Release teleconference. Today's call is being recorded. At this time, I would like to turn the call over to the Executive Vice President of Corporate Finance and Investor Relations, Mr. Adam Townsend. Please go ahead. Adam Townsend - Executive Vice President, Corporate Finance & Investor Relations: Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome to our first quarter 2016 earnings call. Joining us with today's remarks are Leslie Moonves, our Chairman and CEO; and Joe Ianniello, our Chief Operating Officer. Following Les and Joe's discussion of the company's performance, we will open the call up to questions. Please note that during today's conference call, the first quarter results are discussed on an adjusted basis unless otherwise specified. Reconciliations for non-GAAP financial information related to this call can be found in our earnings release or on our website. Also, statements in this conference call related to matters which are not historical facts are forward-looking statements which involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ. Risks and uncertainties are disclosed in CBS Corporation's news releases and securities filings. A webcast of this call and the earnings release related to today's presentation can be found on the Investors section of our website at cbscorporation.com. With that, it's my pleasure to turn the call over to Les. Leslie Moonves - Chairman, President & Chief Executive Officer: Thank you, Adam, and good afternoon, everyone, and thank you very much for joining us. I'm extremely pleased to tell you that CBS has turned in a phenomenal first quarter. Revenue was up 10% to $3.85 billion, the highest we've ever had in the first quarter in our history. Operating income was up 16% to $812 million, our best OI for any quarter ever. And…

Joseph R. Ianniello - Chief Operating Officer

Management

Thanks, Les, and good afternoon, everyone. As you heard, we kicked off 2016 with a record-breaking first quarter. Once again, proving that when you have the big-ticket programming and premium content that audiences have to have, the results will follow. Even better, we delivered our highest-ever quarterly profits while we continue to invest in new programming and in our distribution services. So, as we grow in the near-term, we continue to position ourselves for even more growth in the long-term. Now, let me give you some more details about our first quarter results. Revenue grew 10% to $3.85 billion. Advertising was up 31% for the quarter. As Les said, the Super Bowl led the way. However, underlying network advertising continued to accelerate from the 8% growth we saw both in Q3 and Q4 of last year and was up 12% here in Q1. That's the highest increase we've seen in five years. Affiliate and subscription fees grew 15%, driven by strong increases in retrans and reverse comp, which was up 42% for the quarter. CBS All Access and Showtime OTT also contributed to the growth, and as we continue to build our subscriber basis, our over-the-top subscription services will become a bigger part of this revenue stream in the quarters to come. Content licensing and distribution came in at $729 million, compared with $1 billion in 2015 when we had the domestic streaming sales of both NCIS, and CSI as well as the international sale of our Showtime programming to Bell media in Canada. As you know, content sales can vary from quarter-to-quarter, based on the timing of availabilities. But with our vast pipeline of hits, and huge demand around the world for our content, we are as bullish as ever about our content licensing opportunities. Also during the quarter,…

Operator

Operator

Thank you very much. We'll begin with Ben Swinburne with Morgan Stanley. Benjamin Daniel Swinburne - Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC: Thank you. I have two questions. First, Les, on advertising, can you talk about what you're seeing in the market today versus Q1? I don't know if you'll give us a number relative to that 12%. And then generally, how are your ratings trends here in scatter? Are you able to take advantage of the marketplace currently? And on the upfront, it sounded like you were thinking about selling more inventory to take advantage of this really strong market you talked about salivating. Just wondering if strategically that makes sense for you to maybe add a little more certainty into your upfront sales for next season. Leslie Moonves - Chairman, President & Chief Executive Officer: Yeah, Ben, overall advertising in the scatter marketplace continues to be extraordinarily hot. Really, we're getting into the upfront time, and it couldn't be happening at a better time. As you heard, our ratings are doing really well. Our shows are maintaining where they were. It's going be a very tough process, because we've seen a lot of pilots, and there's going to be a lot of battles in New York and L.A. over which shows get on. Yeah, we probably – our intent will be probably to sell more inventory this year. We expect to. Last year, we sold less, because the pricing wasn't as high as we wanted it to be. And once again, we gambled on scatter being better than the upfront and it proved to be a great gamble. It proved to be a great play. This year I think advertisers are coming in knowing that we have a stronger hand to play, that advertising for broadcast is going to be very, very strong. So, I would expect the volume to be up as well as the CPMs to be up a very nice amount. Benjamin Daniel Swinburne - Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC: That makes sense. And then unrelated, just going back. I don't know if you'll comment, Les, but there has been some news coverage on how CBS is thinking and preparing for an opportunity to look at the different share classes and maybe moving to a single class of stock. I know you can't give us a lot of specifics, but just at a high level, how are you and the board thinking about this opportunity for shareholders? Leslie Moonves - Chairman, President & Chief Executive Officer: All I'm going say is I have a really strong independent, smart board. We look at everything that is available out there. We're not going to comment on some rumors that have been floating around. Benjamin Daniel Swinburne - Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC: Fair enough. Thank you. Leslie Moonves - Chairman, President & Chief Executive Officer: Thank you. Adam Townsend - Executive Vice President, Corporate Finance & Investor Relations: Thank you, Ben. Ann, next question?

Operator

Operator

We'll go next to Jessica Reif Cohen with Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

Jessica Jean Reif Cohen - Bank of America Merrill Lynch

Management

Thank you. Both Les and Joe talked – more than alluded. You talked a little bit about the OTT platforms proliferating. And it's – obviously, the most recent being Hulu. I think, Joe is the one, and maybe both of you, said that you will be part of – you sound very confident you'll be part of any essential bundle. Given the broadcast component, will you be part of Hulu? And kind of second part of that question is the interesting part about this offer versus some of the others is the targeted advertising opportunity. Since you know who your subscribers are, can you talk a little bit about that, whether it's within your OTT platform or part of somebody else's?

Joseph R. Ianniello - Chief Operating Officer

Management

Yeah, Jessica, it's Joe. Look, obviously we're the number one network, so you just step back, you say for any bundle to be successful, not to have the number one network doesn't seem like that's a good start. So, when we say that, obviously we're feeling good about where we are, and we know the CBS All Access subscriber trends and that data. So, that positions us very well. So, we laid out that opportunity at our Investor Day, and I think the opportunity is very real, but we're going talk to everyone. Leslie Moonves - Chairman, President & Chief Executive Officer: Yeah, regarding Hulu we talk to everybody, we listen to everybody. As you know, we're not a partner in Hulu, nor do we want to be. But – so, if they offer us the right pricing for our subs, we will absolutely consider it. And as Joe said, it's going to be hard to offer a pure offering without having CBS as part of it.

Jessica Jean Reif Cohen - Bank of America Merrill Lynch

Management

Absolutely. And could you just address the targeted advertising opportunities within the OTT platforms? Whether it's on Hulu or on your own platform?

Joseph R. Ianniello - Chief Operating Officer

Management

Yeah, look that's a pricing question, Jessica. And obviously, the more targeted the better ROI for our advertisers. I think, again they're going to obviously willing to pay a higher price, because it just makes sense. So, we're going to go in with that data and if that data is driving incremental sales, you should be rest assured we're going to monetize that.

Jessica Jean Reif Cohen - Bank of America Merrill Lynch

Management

I guess just the last, very last thing from me. When you approach the upfront market, and you are obviously dealing from a position of strength in a very strong market, how different will it be than traditional sales? Will there be – I mean, you have many digital properties, how much – and we've seen video on demand, dynamic ad insertion on VOD. Can you just talk about how different or how much of other pieces will come into this year? Leslie Moonves - Chairman, President & Chief Executive Officer: Look, Jessica, you know Joanne Ross as well as I do. She is a world-class, our Head of Sales. She always maximizes the market. Obviously, this year the digital properties that we have, there will be conversations with them and there will be some cross-selling. It won't be as essential as it is at certain other companies, but our digital properties are very valuable and I'm sure across the board there will be a lot more multiplatform selling.

Jessica Jean Reif Cohen - Bank of America Merrill Lynch

Management

Great. Thank you. Leslie Moonves - Chairman, President & Chief Executive Officer: Thank you. Adam Townsend - Executive Vice President, Corporate Finance & Investor Relations: Thank you, Jessica. Next question, please?

Operator

Operator

We'll go next to Alexia Quadrani with JPMorgan.

Alexia S. Quadrani - JPMorgan Securities LLC

Management

Hi, thank you. Just following up on that last question, I guess I'd love to hear how you balance the priority of the growth and all the investing you're making in CBS All Access with the financial benefits of participating in other streaming or over-the-top products. I guess if you could elaborate on how you look at the pros and cons of that. And then just a follow-up question if I can. If you could just maybe, Joe, maybe elaborate on Entertainment margins. They were up a lot more than we expected. Despite the Super Bowl, which obviously had some hefty costs, is it just the underlying advertising was so strong? I guess where the upside in the margins in Entertainment came from? Leslie Moonves - Chairman, President & Chief Executive Officer: Alexia, I'll do the first question. I'll have Joe do the second. I can give you two words: Star Trek. Once again, every other streaming service was after Star Trek. We could have cashed in for a lot of money selling it to the Netflix, the Amazon, the Hulu. They were all very interested in it. We know that Star Trek is a high-priced, quality product. And we feel like it is better by the way, knowing that we will have very strong international sales, which we're already getting in. That it's important that we show the world and we show everybody that All Access is a priority for us. It's very important to us and there are a lot of very rabid Star Trek fans who are going to sign up for it. We will follow that up with additional original content and we continue to play it that way.

Joseph R. Ianniello - Chief Operating Officer

Management

And, Alexia, on the Entertainment margin question, I think you kind of hit it on the head when you said underlying network advertising. When you have underlying network advertising growing at 12%, those are very high margin dollars. Because all we're paying right on that is a commission. So, that's what drove the margin expansion.

Alexia S. Quadrani - JPMorgan Securities LLC

Management

Thank you very much. Adam Townsend - Executive Vice President, Corporate Finance & Investor Relations: Thanks, Alexia. Let's go to another question, please.

Operator

Operator

We'll go next to Michael Morris with Guggenheim Securities.

Michael Morris - Guggenheim Securities LLC

Management

Thanks. Good afternoon, guys. Couple questions on return on the investments that you are making. Maybe just to follow-up on the last one with respect to the Super Bowl. And the pricing on inventory at the Super Bowl seemed to grow a lot and I believe you're getting paid from your affiliates as well. And so, I'm curious whether the Super Bowl, which I think historically has been viewed as sort of a breakeven product at the network, whether it is becoming more profitable and whether sports inventories can or will become more profitable over time? And then second, on Showtime, number one, you showed us a lot of good content that you have coming out this year. Can you talk a little bit about how the programming budget is growing there this year? And then also, as we think about the top-line growth in the near-term kind of over the next year, how much is coming from trying to drive subscribers through the sort of legacy model? And how much do you feel we're really going to start to see between the over-the-top and the international deals you signed? Thanks.

Joseph R. Ianniello - Chief Operating Officer

Management

Okay. Michael, the second part, the Showtime programming, look, we're managing the budget. I think you saw all those new shows that are going. Obviously, it's in context with Showtime OTT growing as well as the base business. So again, I think if you looked at Showtime's margin, consistently you're seeing it in the mid-40%s. And we expect to maintain that. So again, the investment is kind of – we're feeding the growth with content. And I think that's the key and we're doing it smartly. Leslie Moonves - Chairman, President & Chief Executive Officer: And on the sports question, obviously we do a long-term deal with the NFL, included in that deal is three or four Super Bowls. So that is all figured in on how we amortize the cost. Yes, our pricing was phenomenal. The market was extraordinarily strong at the time. Look, our affiliates contribute to our football rights fee. They don't specifically pay extra for the Super Bowl. However, knowing how much money our O&Os made during the Super Bowl with pricing being as high as it is, we assume our affiliates did quite well, as well. So, the Super Bowl ended up being very profitable, more because of the O&Os and the rest is figured in the overall deal.

Michael Morris - Guggenheim Securities LLC

Management

Thanks. And just if I could on the first question, the power of the international agreements that you signed, I think part of it had to do with when you deliver the programming. Do you expect that as the year progresses, we'll see the full benefit as these shows roll out? Or it is something that should continue – maybe we'll see more benefit in 2017 from the product that's being rolled out in 2016?

Joseph R. Ianniello - Chief Operating Officer

Management

Yeah, I think again the way you should think about it is, these services again are singing up for the Showtime brand. So, it's the brand, Showtime. It's past, current and future series, Mike. So each day, we're adding to that pipeline at fixed price, at a fixed price. So, we know what that is. So, yeah, I think that's going to build over time. And again, we will roll that out to additional countries as those opportunities present themselves. So, we do see that as a growing opportunity. Leslie Moonves - Chairman, President & Chief Executive Officer: And, Mike, the reason this happened is because Showtime's batting average is as good as any service in the world. In other words, they realized they can bet on the next 10 series on Showtime and pay for it now, because David Nevins has done such a fabulous job of programming.

Michael Morris - Guggenheim Securities LLC

Management

Great. Thanks a lot, guys. Adam Townsend - Executive Vice President, Corporate Finance & Investor Relations: Great. Thank you, Mike. Next question?

Operator

Operator

We'll go next to John Janedis with Jefferies.

John Janedis - Jefferies LLC

Management

Thank you. Les, you spoke to questions about the effectiveness of certain digital platforms. And I think looking back, you were early to the conversation on dollars shifting back to TV. So, as your sales team goes to market into and beyond the upfront, is there any sense that digital platforms are changing price or improving measurement to re-accelerate the share gains back to digital? Or maybe asked differently, to what extent are you confident the shift has a long tail? Leslie Moonves - Chairman, President & Chief Executive Officer: Look, we feel like – digital is obviously going to be very, very important. It is for us. It is for many companies in the future. Obviously, there was some kinks in the system where people were paying for a lot of fraudulent numbers of people that weren't really watching. So, I think data becomes very, very important and more accurate data. In addition, what makes us confident is, by the same token, digital becomes important and stays important, there is a better effect of watching a television show. There's more engagement in that, and the effectiveness of advertising of broadcast television is far superior to that. And it's been proven that digital sales that go along with broadcast sales are by far the most effective. So, by no means are we denigrating digital sales, and we're a major part of it. But, I think the bang for the buck is much higher on broadcast.

John Janedis - Jefferies LLC

Management

All right. Thanks, Les. And maybe a follow-up on Showtime. You talked about the roster and I'm wondering if you are seeing any changes in churn as a result. And then separately, given how crowded the market's gotten with Netflix and Amazon, do you see any need to go beyond the 12 or so originals a year? Leslie Moonves - Chairman, President & Chief Executive Officer: Well, we would like to go beyond the original 12 a year but, you know what? Our subs are going up at Showtime. So these guys are not affecting. If we do what we continue to do, which is produce quality programing, both scripted as well as much more documentaries and great sports shows, we expect that to continue on. We view Netflix and Amazon regarding Showtime program as a competitor. But, as I said, our batting average when you have a murderer's row like we do in that programming with more to come, we feel very confident we're going to continue to win.

John Janedis - Jefferies LLC

Management

Has churn improved? Leslie Moonves - Chairman, President & Chief Executive Officer: What?

John Janedis - Jefferies LLC

Management

Has churn improved?

Joseph R. Ianniello - Chief Operating Officer

Management

Yeah. Look, I think again, because we're changing the release schedule, I think that helps I think, John, with the churns, because I think you're seeing that because there's always something else. I think if you have one hit series and it's on one time during the year and then you kind of go stale the rest of the year, I think you see churn. But when you have something coming every single quarter, every single month, you see reduction in churn. And we're absolutely seeing that.

John Janedis - Jefferies LLC

Management

Okay. Leslie Moonves - Chairman, President & Chief Executive Officer: By the way, three of the last quarters of last year, Showtime was the highest performing – had highest ratings on any premium network in the three quarters of the four quarters. So that tells you about our programming versus other's programming.

John Janedis - Jefferies LLC

Management

Thanks a lot. Adam Townsend - Executive Vice President, Corporate Finance & Investor Relations: Thank you, John. Ann, next question?

Operator

Operator

We'll go next to Bryan Kraft with Deutsche Bank.

Bryan Kraft - Deutsche Bank Securities, Inc.

Management

I had two questions. First, Joe, on the radio separation you mentioned, do you expect that to be structured as an IPO of the business with proceeds going to CBS and CBS retaining a stake? Or will it be a complete separation of the business? And then also wanted to ask you about the working capital used we should expect in 2016 as you are expanding your content production. Thank you.

Joseph R. Ianniello - Chief Operating Officer

Management

Sure. Bryan, it's Joe. So, the radio separation, yeah, we do anticipate a traditional two-step and IPO where it'd be sub 20%, again, similar to outdoor if you just looked at that as a template where CBS would own again, 80%-plus initially. But then we would follow that up later with a full separation of the assets, probably again an exchange offer vis-à-vis a split-off. Again, very similar to what we just did with outdoor. That being said, there's a lot of other opportunities in front of us. So, we will explore all those opportunities and pursue the one that we believe will maximize value for shareholders. As far as working capital, Bryan, obviously that has big swings. But obviously this one is a good swing because the Super Bowl. So, we're – the timing of those payments differ from when we paid the NFL and when we collected so I think 2016 is certainly off to a good working capital year; but as you know, we don't forecast that because obviously a lot of things can swing that from year-to-year.

Bryan Kraft - Deutsche Bank Securities, Inc.

Management

Okay. Thank you. Adam Townsend - Executive Vice President, Corporate Finance & Investor Relations: Thank you, Bryan. Next question?

Operator

Operator

We'll go next to Doug Mitchelson with UBS.

Doug Mitchelson - UBS Securities LLC

Management

Well, thanks so much. A couple questions. Joe, you noted that CBS and Showtime OTT are on track to meet or exceed the long-term goal from the Analyst Day. Was your forecast based on a straight-line subscriber growth pattern?

Joseph R. Ianniello - Chief Operating Officer

Management

Yeah, Doug, I don't know if it's exactly straight line, but again because of the way the content's getting rolled out, it will be tied to that; but I mean, pretty close to that, Doug. I don't see any huge differences. Obviously 2017 with Star Trek, Twin Peaks and the others I think that's going to be a big year for us going into that. But then from there, it'll be more steady but there will be accelerated growth over the next in the coming months.

Doug Mitchelson - UBS Securities LLC

Management

And Les, two questions, if I could. When I talked to ad execs, it's pretty clear the broadcast network salespeople want double-digit upfront price increases, and ad buyers are saying no way they'll pay double-digits. Do you think CBS can tip into double-digit price increases in the upfront? Leslie Moonves - Chairman, President & Chief Executive Officer: Yes, I do.

Doug Mitchelson - UBS Securities LLC

Management

And I just was hoping you would give some comments on programming strategy. I mean, you've obviously gone through the TV development process. I mean, 15 pilots to 16 pilots being in-house, 15 pilots on 16 pilots, any concerns you are not beating the bushes as much as you should to find the next hit show? Should we take that as a sign... Leslie Moonves - Chairman, President & Chief Executive Officer: No. As to the 16 pilots, about eight pilots of them we own ourselves and about seven pilots of them we co-own.

Doug Mitchelson - UBS Securities LLC

Management

Okay. Leslie Moonves - Chairman, President & Chief Executive Officer: We have deals, we have shows, we have ABC, NBC, Sony and Warner Bros. So, we're doing business with virtually everybody in town. They're just co-productions.

Doug Mitchelson - UBS Securities LLC

Management

That's helpful. Leslie Moonves - Chairman, President & Chief Executive Officer: Yeah.

Doug Mitchelson - UBS Securities LLC

Management

Any thought about programming strategy? I mean, everyone is desperate for comedies. Are you trying to push younger? Do you stay in your lane because you continue... Leslie Moonves - Chairman, President & Chief Executive Officer: Doug, I've been doing this for a long time. As you say, everybody wants us to push younger. As I said earlier, we're going to win 18 to 34. You don't get younger than that, it looks like and we're definitely winning 18 to 49. And frankly, look, it's not much different year-over-year. We have, as I said, 16 pilots. They are like eight dramas and eight comedies. The best shows get on the air. The best shows get on the air for us and we could add extra comedies or not. We're going through our process now. It's a very exciting time of the year. I'm happy with what I'm seeing so far. We've certainly got enough players to put on. So, I don't think my strategy has changed any year except to win.

Doug Mitchelson - UBS Securities LLC

Management

And the last part of the programming strategy part is everybody is trying to make TV in Hollywood these days. Any cost pressures or issues that we should be aware of as you look at these pilots? Leslie Moonves - Chairman, President & Chief Executive Officer: Cost pressures, I can guarantee you that the amount of money that will be spent on programming next year on CBS will probably be less than was spent this year.

Doug Mitchelson - UBS Securities LLC

Management

Terrific. Thanks so much, Les and Joe. Adam Townsend - Executive Vice President, Corporate Finance & Investor Relations: Thanks, Doug. Next question, please.

Operator

Operator

We'll go next to Tim Nollen from Macquarie. Tim Nollen - Macquarie Capital (USA), Inc.: Thanks. We've had a few questions on digital versus linear advertising. I've actually got a couple more, if we could try to close the loop, please. First off, you mentioned 12% underlying growth in TV for the CBS Network. I assume that's TV and digital both. And if I'm right, could you possibly break out the split or the growth rates of the two? And then secondly, with All Access, assuming that the new originals you are putting on All Access will be episodic – i.e., you're not going to drop all the Star Trek episodes on at once. They will be on once a week as they would be on broadcast. But correct me if I'm wrong there. I assume you are going to be taking ad monetization there. What sort of rating system might you use for that? Will you be giving guarantees, et cetera, like you would on traditional TV? And are you basically going to turn All Access into another form of CBS Network?

Joseph R. Ianniello - Chief Operating Officer

Management

Yeah, Tim, it's Joe. Let me start with the first one. We don't break it out. Again, the lion's share of the 12%, the Television Network was up 49%. And, again, that's a Television Network, the traditional as we know it. Obviously again, the digital part is a small part of the Entertainment segment. But obviously growing faster; but again, it's a much smaller number. So it doesn't move the needle like – it may in future. So I don't follow. Again, the second part of your question, Tim, can you just clarify that with the... Leslie Moonves - Chairman, President & Chief Executive Officer: Yeah, by the way, it will be episodic, Tim. It will. There won't be the Netflix.

Joseph R. Ianniello - Chief Operating Officer

Management

Right. Tim Nollen - Macquarie Capital (USA), Inc.: Okay.

Joseph R. Ianniello - Chief Operating Officer

Management

Week-by-week, yeah. Tim Nollen - Macquarie Capital (USA), Inc.: That's what I assumed, which would make sense, obviously. So it seems like if you're going to be doing Star Trek and then 10, 12 other new originals over the next few years on All Access, it feels like you're turning that into a new delivery vehicle for the CBS Network. I mean, you'll have a lot of originals on that, just as you do on your TV network. So, the question is, how will you seek to monetize that with advertising? Would you use a similar rating system as for linear? Would you give guarantees? How would the ad market work for All Access? Similar to the network business?

Joseph R. Ianniello - Chief Operating Officer

Management

Yeah. Look again, it's similar to the network, it's going to be priced at a CPM that we deliver based on demographics. And again if we had more targeted advertising, we can deliver, we're going to want a premium to that. So again, the $6 offering would be additive to the advertising. So clearly, we're not going to price it lower than broadcast advertisers. So the question is, how high can the market support? Tim Nollen - Macquarie Capital (USA), Inc.: Got it. Thank you. Adam Townsend - Executive Vice President, Corporate Finance & Investor Relations: Thank you, Tim. Ann, next question.

Operator

Operator

We'll go next to Marci Ryvicker with Wells Fargo.

Marci L. Ryvicker - Wells Fargo Securities LLC

Management

Hi. Thanks. I have a couple questions. First, Joe, you talked about the 36% of your footprint is up for retrans; 38% for reverse over the next three years. Can you talk about what that looks like per year? Is it more front-end loaded, backend loaded?

Joseph R. Ianniello - Chief Operating Officer

Management

I would say most of that – and again, when I said three years, it's 2016, 2017 and 2018. Most of that is in 2017. A big chunk of that 36% for retrans, 38% for affiliate. Again the lion – big – majority, I would say is in 2017.

Marci L. Ryvicker - Wells Fargo Securities LLC

Management

Okay.

Joseph R. Ianniello - Chief Operating Officer

Management

So that's going to be a good reset year for us next year.

Marci L. Ryvicker - Wells Fargo Securities LLC

Management

And then in terms of the radio IPO, I thought you had some synergies in the markets where you had both radio and TV. So, will there be any impact in the TV-only markets afterwards?

Joseph R. Ianniello - Chief Operating Officer

Management

No, whatever synergies we're going to preserve. So I mean again if they're co-located in a facility. We'll make sure the lease covers both entities. So we're not going to lose any efficiencies by separating it out. Again, we're not going do that, that doesn't make any sort of sense. There's obviously a lot of stations that have call letters with our call letters on them, and so we will preserve that. So, again we're trying to add to both the profitability of the TV and radio stations, not make one go up and the other down.

Marci L. Ryvicker - Wells Fargo Securities LLC

Management

Got it. And then one last one. The plus 12% at the network core, I guess, that includes the Grammys, correct? Do you have the number excluding the Grammys?

Joseph R. Ianniello - Chief Operating Officer

Management

Yeah, that includes the Grammys, because we have the Grammys every year.

Marci L. Ryvicker - Wells Fargo Securities LLC

Management

Okay. Thank you. Adam Townsend - Executive Vice President, Corporate Finance & Investor Relations: Great. Thank you, Marci. Next question, please?

Operator

Operator

We'll go next to Vijay Jayant with Evercore.

Vijay Jayant - Evercore ISI

Management

Thanks. Given the distributors are all contemplating – your incumbent distributors are all contemplating an IP-only product possibly over the next few years, can you talk about the step-ups you can see on that right that you give them? And also will the heritage scale matter in that step-up possibly?

Joseph R. Ianniello - Chief Operating Officer

Management

Yeah, Vijay, look, I think that the traditional guys as they come to us as they're changing their distribution, we're going to be open. They're our partners. We want them to be successful. They have an installed base. But again, we've always said from day one, we're open to this, but we've got to be paid value for that. For what we're delivering, if it's rights outside the home or whatever, what have you, we're willing to work with our partners. But there's got to be value benefit coming back to the folks who create and own the intellectual property.

Vijay Jayant - Evercore ISI

Management

Are your retrans numbers including some expectation there or that could be upside?

Joseph R. Ianniello - Chief Operating Officer

Management

Look, we think it's upside. We gave you the retrans number at the Investor Day. We were pretty clear about what that is per sub, on the retrans and reverse comp side. And, again, we said that would include out-of-home rights, but certainly again if we're talking stuff beyond that, that will be additive. We're pretty good at math.

Vijay Jayant - Evercore ISI

Management

Great. Just a housekeeping. Local TV, ex-Super Bowl. Is there any underlying ad number there? Thanks.

Joseph R. Ianniello - Chief Operating Officer

Management

Local TV, ex-Super Bowl, underlying TV is up-low single digits if you exclude all comparables. Let's just put it that way.

Vijay Jayant - Evercore ISI

Management

Great. Thanks so much. Adam Townsend - Executive Vice President, Corporate Finance & Investor Relations: Thank you. And we have time for one last question.

Operator

Operator

And that will be from David Miller with Topeka Capital Markets.

David W. Miller - Topeka Capital Markets

Management

Yeah, hey, guys. Les, seven weeks ago at the Analyst Day, you prognosticated that for the upfront, volume across all six of the major broadcast networks would be up I think you said 9.5% and up at least 5%, correct me if I'm wrong, when excluding the Summer Olympics. Just given the tone of this call, which is obviously outstanding, and just given that things seem to have accelerated over the last seven weeks, do you want to improve any of those bogeys at this time? Or do you want to stick with the 9.5%? Then I have a follow-up, thanks. Leslie Moonves - Chairman, President & Chief Executive Officer: Well, David, if you recall, that was Dr. Poltrack's acknowledgment of how he looked at the market. Frankly, being up 12%, right now I would say that number was conservative. I think that number was conservative. I think it will end up being a bit higher than that. I'm not going predict what it is. But we've outperformed where we thought we'd be in the first quarter, so we think we'll outperform for the year as well.

David W. Miller - Topeka Capital Markets

Management

Okay, very good. And then what's you guys' inclination in participating in this spectrum auction? I mean, obviously, it's a reverse auction. You are competing for the buyer by cutting prices in each round of bidding. What's your sort of threshold for level of annoyance? And I mean, everything just kind of gets whittled down. I mean, what's your threshold? Is it $100 million? $50 million? When do you walk away from the auction? Leslie Moonves - Chairman, President & Chief Executive Officer: David, unfortunately we are not allowed to answer your question in that, we are obviously we've thrown our hat in the ring in a number of markets and that's basically all we can say. We're in a period of quiet right now, before...

David W. Miller - Topeka Capital Markets

Management

Yep. Leslie Moonves - Chairman, President & Chief Executive Officer: ...the auction begins. And I will be happy to answer your question six months from now.

David W. Miller - Topeka Capital Markets

Management

Okay. Fair enough. Congratulations on the stellar results. Leslie Moonves - Chairman, President & Chief Executive Officer: Thank you very much. Adam Townsend - Executive Vice President, Corporate Finance & Investor Relations: Thank you, David. And this concludes today's call. Thank you, everyone, for joining us. Have a great evening.