CBS CEO 'Excited' About Rumored Apple TV, Met With Eddy Cue Last Week

CBS CEO Les Moonves says his network will "probably" sign a deal with Apple to be included as a launch partner for their upcoming TV service. “We’re very excited about it,” Moonves told Kara Swisher on stage at Re/Code's Code Conference.

Moonves confirmed that he met with Apple SVP Eddy Cue last week to discuss the upcoming Apple TV service as part of an "ongoing conversation." Moonves did not know how long it would take to negotiate a deal or when Apple was planning the launch its service.

“Apple TV is trying to change the universe,” Moonves said, by offering a smaller bundle of TV networks, delivered over the Web, than pay TV providers traditionally sell. Moonves said Apple’s effort was similar to ones that have already launched from Dish Network’s Sling and Sony’s Vue.

“I think the age of the 200 channel universe is slowly dying,” Moonves said. “The good news for us, is any one of those groups will need CBS,” adding that his network will get a bigger proportion of whatever revenue those “skinny bundles” generate than it does in traditional packages.

Apple's revamped Apple TV box and TV service are rumored to be announced at WWDC next month; however, there have been talks of delays due to Apple's efforts to include local programming.

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