CBS Loses Less Money, CEO Les Moonves Makes More

CBS lost less money in the first quarter than one year ago, according to the network’s earnings report yesterday. 

The company, which owns the CBS television network and local stations, reported a net loss of $26.2 million in the first quarter, an improvement from a loss of $55.3 million a year earlier.  Excluding the costs of staff cutbacks and tax charges, CBS said it earned $34.3 million. 

That said, the company might have actually turned a profit if CBS CEO Les Moonves’s pay ($43.2 million) was decided by his value to stockholders.  According to a study by pay expert Graef Crystal for Bloomberg News examining the relationship between CEO compensation and the returns that stockholders see, Moonves made $28 million more than he was worth.