CBS chief Leslie Moonves said Donald Trump’s run for president has been good business for his network, adding that he hopes the presidential campaign “circus” this year continues.
The Hollywood Reporter has the story:
“It may not be good for America, but it’s good for CBS,” he said of the presidential race. Moonves called the campaign for president a “circus” full of mudslinging, and he hopes it continues. “Most of the ads are not about issues. They’re like the debates,” he said.
Deadline added this nugget from Moonves: “It’s a terrible thing to say, but bring it on, Donald.”
Moonves bragged last year about the ad revenue that the presidential campaign was bringing into his company, adding for punctuation, “And go Donald! Keep getting out there!”
Taking history into account, there’s some humor in Moonves’s cheerleading. Trump once feuded with him over a business deal gone bad. From the Associated Press in 2004:
If CBS boss Leslie Moonves were a contestant on The Apprentice, Donald Trump would give him the boot. Donald Trump’s new reality show The Apprentice airs on NBC, not CBS. The real estate mogul — and NBC personality — used an appearance Wednesday on behalf of his NBC reality show to lay bare his feud with Moonves. Trump called him “the most highly overrated person in television.” “If Leslie Moonves was a contestant on our show, he would have been fired by the third episode,” Trump said. “And, unlike most people, I like Les Moonves.” CBS spokesman Chris Ender said: “The Donald is always good for a chuckle.”
12 years later, he’s also good for ratings.
