• The Los Angeles Times, Friday, December 15, 2006 11:30 AM

As part of CEO Leslie Moonves' strategy to turn CBS into a full-fledged media enterprise, the company is reviving CBS Records, the storied former home of artists such as Frank Sinatra, Bob Dylan, Tony Bennett, Miles Davis, Billy Joel and Bruce Springsteen.

The rejuvenated label will start out small, with an eye toward the Internet age. CBS plans to sign a handful of songwriters whose music will be incorporated into shows on the CBS broadcast network, the youth-oriented CW television network and the company's fledgling digital platforms. In the past, networks would buy music rights to cover a program's broadcast run. Now that shows are available over the Internet, networks must pay extra for those digital rights.

"Music is a very essential part of the television production business," says Nancy Tellem, president of the CBS Paramount Network Television Entertainment Group. "Studios are spending millions and millions of dollars each year to license these songs."

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