• by David Goetzl  @dgoetzl, May 6, 2013

CBS CEO Leslie Moonves says Aereo may prompt CBS to move to cable. He says CBS will continue to pursue litigation against it. He also says it is receiving outsized attention.

“Way too much has been spoken about Aereo and written about Aereo,” Moonves said Monday on CNBC. “It is not a serious threat to us. We think it’s an illegal service -- we think they’re taking our signal.”

CBS and other networks believe the company that streams live TV online is illegally transmitting their content without compensating them. Aereo is backed by Barry Diller and there is some talk that if it continues to operate, others may replicate its technology, which could cause significant financial damage to networks.

“It's nothing we’re losing sleep over," Moonves said. “It’s a rather minor issue that’s gotten a lot of attention.”

Aereo does not reveal how many subscribers it has, while it moves ahead with plans to expand to other markets this year and has begun some advertising in its maiden New York market.

Separately on CNBC, Moonves spoke about CBS’ performance this season and said the network is “pretty cocky” on its prospects in the upfront, where it may land percentage price increases in the high-single or low-double-digit ranges.

Moonves said even if networks do lose significant advertising to other platforms, CBS will be in good shape because of its presence on other platforms. He also reiterated that breakthrough content will always have a lucrative market.

“You'll get paid differently than you do today,” he said. “But you'll always get paid and you'll always win out. Content wins.”