Saying that the deal represented a new "paradigm" for its business, Les Moonves, CEO of CBS (CBS-A) Corp. and the company announced that it has in place the retransmission consent deals with cable operators which they have been looking forward to for a long time.
It looks like it will provide the network with its first cash payments for its programming from the cable industry.
None of the cable companies in the deal have been named, but they are among nine of the top 25 cable operators, and will have an impact upon about 1 million subscribers. Included in the deal will be digital, analog, high-definition and 
multicast rights to CBS owned-and-operated TV stations.
When asked what all this meant, Larry Gerbrandt, senior vice president and general manager of Nielsen Analytics, said, "I would guess digital channels, local cable avails to promote their programming and cash."
In the past, in lieu of cash for retransmission deals, the larger media companies would be offered new cable channels. It was those cable channels that would give media companies the license fees.
One example would be when CBS and MTV were under the same corporate umbrella, MTV was the beneficiary of the preferred license fees and increased cable channels positions.
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