Cramer: CBS Has 'Upper Hand' In Any Merger Talks With Viacom

Jim Cramer offered his thoughts on a potential CBS Corporation CBS and Viacom, Inc. VIAB tie-up during his "Mad Dash" segment Tuesday.

Cramer noted that analysts at UBS boosted their rating on CBS from Sell to Buy based on the premise that CEO Les Moonves successfully "navigated the field dynamics" and "raising numbers, saying business is better."

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Cramer said this is an indication that CBS holds the "upper hand" in any merger talks. However, merger talks haven't begun and both companies have only confirmed an independent committee of board members will explore the potential transaction.

"I though these networks were dead," Cramer said. "We never talk about ABC and Disney. Is it really possible that what's happened here is this stock [CBS] is very undervalued simply because people believe that broadcast is done?"

Cramer further suggested that broadcast is "obviously alive and well" and if it wasn't then Moonves wouldn't hold any "upper hand" in talks with Viacom.

Bottom line, Moonves is navigating CBS "better than most and perhaps more importantly, CBS holds a contract to broadcast NFL games and they didn't overpay for the contract in the first place.

The Vetr crowd may agree with Cramer's assessment as 80 percent of the crowd have a Buy rating on CBS stock. In addition, the crowd-sourced price target of $61.00 implies further upside of more than 11 percent.