• by Wayne Friedman , June 2, 2011

In midday trading, CBS Corp.'s stock price sharply rose almost 3% to $27.71 -- after remarks from Les Moonves, its president and CEO, that upfront prices would gain "very strong double-digit growth."

At the Nomura Securities U.S. Media Conference on Thursday, Moonves said the network will hold firm in its pricing demands. Reports says CBS has been initially asking for 18% price gains on CPMs.

In response to questions about Fox's pricing, Moonves said: "Fox plays their game. We play our game, and I like our game." He added: "We're not going to sell at 9% or 10%."

Some media industry executives estimate CBS will land with 12% to 13% price hikes, topping all other networks.

As CBS has warned -- and acted -- in past upfront markets, Moonves said the network might sell less inventory in the upfront and take its chances in the scatter market, if it didn't get its price.

In the past, CBS has sold as little as 60% to 65% of its inventory in the upfront. The average for most broadcast networks is around 75% to 80%, depending on the market and the network.

Moonves added that CBS would not bid on the next round of Olympics; he said the network would continue to deliver a stable lineup to advertisers with little in the way of makegoods and underdelivery.