• Reuters, Thursday, September 14, 2006 11:02 AM

CBS Corp. Chairman Les Moonves is interested in taking the mantle Tom Freston was supposed to assume as chief of Viacom, Inc. and expanding his company's presence online. The goal is the acquisition of the next YouTube-like Web site. "It is obviously phenomenally successful," Moonves said of YouTube. "I doubt we would buy it at this point. But when you see the price YouTube is now demanding, it is pretty phenomenal." Analysts have said the online video leader, which is not on the block, would cost between $2 and $3 billion. Moonves' sights are set on the next big thing; CBS is not interested in any of the established online video or social-networking sites. Like his big media peers, the CBS chief has been forced to concede the early rounds of the fight for new media to Rupert Murdoch and News Corp. for its MySpace acquisition. He was quick to add that other companies haven't fared as well in their acquisitions, without naming any names. Speculation surfaced that Moonves was keen on buying YouTube when he was spotted chatting with YouTube founder Chad Hurley earlier this year. Moonves said one of the things they discussed was the possibility of CBS supplying a daily package of news and sports clips for distribution on the viral video site.

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