Cbs Corp

CBS Corp. said it would buy in-store programming and advertising company SignStorey Inc. for $71.5 million in cash to expand its out-of-home business. SignStorey has installed video displays that show ads delivered by satellite in supermarkets in six of the top 10 markets in the U.S.

CBS Corp. has spoken: When it comes to making its reality hit "Survivor" available for downloading, iTunes has been voted off the island. The company announced Wednesday that it was experimenting with cutting out the Internet middlemen by offering downloads of its popular show for $1.99 an episode on its own website, CBS.com. The service is to be launched tonight, immediately after the show airs on the West Coast.

The Federal Communications Commission denied CBS Corp.'s request for another review of a $550,000 fine imposed for the 2004 Super Bowl halftime show in which singer Janet Jackson's breast was exposed. The agency, headed by Chairman Kevin Martin, said it rejected CBS' claim that the show wasn't indecent. The FCC found CBS' violation was willful, and dismissed CBS' claim that the indecency rules were vague. "We will continue to pursue all remedies necessary to affirm our legal rights," CBS said.

Despite sharply higher third-quarter profit at CBS Corp., investors fretted Thursday that a slowdown in TV advertising could crimp future earnings or that management might risk some of the company's cash stockpile on big acquisitions. Its shares fell 16 cents to $28.76 after the New York media company reported a 26% jump in earnings from continuing operations.

CBS declared itself "Mentally Strong" in a news release the other day, trumpeting the big ratings for the network's latest hit drama, "The Mentalist." Fiscally fit, however, is the question. The broadcasting giant today reports quarterly results, and Wall Street is bracing for grim numbers -- and looking for CBS Corp. to outline a strategy for how it will navigate the choppy waters ahead.

The anemic advertising market drained the profit from CBS Corp. The broadcasting company, which owns the CBS network, television and radio stations and a bevy of billboards, on Thursday reported a first-quarter net loss of $55.3 million, or 8 cents a share. That compared with net income of $244.3 million, or 36 cents, for the same period last year.

The new Viacom Inc. said its board voted to pay a $5.4-billion special dividend to the new CBS Corp. The companies, whose stocks are to begin trading publicly Tuesday, will be separate companies after the former Viacom splits in two. The dividend had been specified under the terms of the split. The new Viacom said it used a $6-billion loan to fund the payment.

At CBS, breaking up is hard to do. But not impossible. After two years of saying she would like to try something new, top CBS entertainment executive Nancy Tellem appears to be close to stepping down from her job running the CBS television network and TV production studio. CBS insiders confirmed that Tellem, president of CBS Network Television Entertainment Group, had been in talks with her boss, CBS Corp. Chief Executive Leslie Moonves, to assume a less hands-on role at the company.

It was big. It was bright. It was controversial. And now it's gone. On Thursday, CBS Outdoor Inc. took down a billboard graphic -- black text on a screaming yellow background -- reading: "Consumer Watchdog says: 'You Can't Trust Mercury Insurance.' " The towering Mid-Wilshire billboard was in a prime spot for attracting attention, at least from Mercury Insurance's parent company, Mercury General Corp. It sat about half a mile east of corporate headquarters. Consumer Watchdog's billboard was taken down because Mercury, California's third-largest auto insurer and ninth-largest homeowners insurer, complained to CBS Outdoor, said Harvey Rosenfield, founder of Consumer Watchdog.

CBS is losing its top bean counter. Fred Reynolds, the longtime chief financial officer of CBS Corp., is stepping down next month and retiring in August. He will be succeeded by Joe Ianniello, who has been deputy chief financial officer. Reynolds, 58, has been CBS Chief Executive Leslie Moonves' Wall Street wingman for nearly a decade. He almost left the company in 2005, but Moonves, who commands extreme loyalty from his underlings, lured him back.