CBS To Affiliates: Pay Up Or Drop Dead; Media General Down 3%

CBS Corp.'s

is sending a message to its affiliates: pay up or drop dead. In an apparent dispute over fees for sports and prime-time programming, CBS on Monday pulled the plug on Lin Media

in Indianapolis and will move its broadcasts there to Tribune Media Co.'s

WTTV-TV. Broadcasters dependent on CBS for programming extended earlier losses and saw their shares dropping Wednesday. "If a local affiliate balks at CBS's demands, the affiliate must recognize that other stations might step up to take over," RBC Capital's David Bank said in a research note. CBS Corp. Chief Executive Leslie Moonves signaled that the company was seeking higher fees in a conference call with analysts last week. "We decide what we think is fair," Moonves said. "The station groups are all doing very well, primarily because of network programming both in primetime and in sports." In the recent quarter, CBS' affiliate and subscription fees grew 7 percent to $586 million, while total revenue fell 5 percent to $3.19 billion. Media General Inc.

, set to acquire Lin, on Wednesday continued to see its shares drop and were trading down nearly 3 percent to $16.42. Nexstar Broadcasting Group Inc.

which is heavily dependent on CBS, saw its shares fall Wednesday by 3 percent to $45.19. Gray Television, Inc.

down 2.5 percent Monday, has nearly half of its 40 TV channels dependent on CBS. Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc,

where nine of its roughly 70 stations are CBS affiliates, extended steep losses from Tuesday and saw its shares drop a further 1 percent Wednesday.