CBS CEO Les Moonves is known to occasionally drop pieces of information that he’s not supposed to on his company’s earnings calls, and this quarter was no exception. When asked about CBS’s appetite for striking deals with new streaming providers that might not have the money to pay cash upfront to license its content, Moonves said that CBS had decided against joining an Apple TV service because it was based on an ad split.

Apple had long been rumored to be working on a subscription streaming service that would aggregate content from multiple TV networks and compete against more traditional cable and satellite services. That product ended up never coming to market, as Apple was apparently unable to convince enough content providers to join. But no one had publicly confirmed that such an offering was actually in the works until today.

The decision not to join the effort follows CBS’s philosophy of getting paid upfront licensing fees for syndication of its content online, as opposed to partnering on revenue-sharing agreements. It’s one reason, for instance, why CBS never followed ABC, Fox and NBC in joining Hulu, and why it seems unlikely to do so in the future.

Now that decision seems to be paying off, as CBS and The CW, its joint venture with Time Warner, are striking big-money licensing deals with streaming providers that are contributing heavily to its top line. Earlier this year, CBS struck deals with both Netflix and Amazon to make classic library content like Cheers and The Wonder Years available on their streaming services. More recently, The CW has licensed its shows out to Netflix and Hulu in deals that Moonves said today would turn the network from a “money loser for CBS to a profitable venture.”

In both cases, CBS received lots of guaranteed money for streaming rights. In his prepared statements today, Moonves said CBS was receiving “hundreds of millions of dollars” from streaming providers like Netflix, Amazon and Hulu, and that there were potentially more deals in the works. As consumer demand for streaming content continues, Moonves said he feels good about being able to make significant money from online viewership year in and year out, regardless of which online distributor wins.

Moonves’ Apple comment isn’t the first big gaffe he’s had over the past year. On CBS’s first-quarter earnings call, Moonves mentioned working on a deal with Netflix to license CBS shows for distribution in Latin America, a full month before Netflix officially announced its streaming service would be expanding to that region.

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Be still my beating heart. The UberNES Nintendo Screen Saver displays a grid of multiple working NES games when your computer is idle. Leave it be, and you’ll see all the various demos running at once. Hit the spacebar and you can actually start playing the games.

Tears of joy, my friends. Tears of joy.

If you don’t have any ROMs, there are around 100 downloadable demo movies “that provide over two full days of unique NES gameplay footage,” according to the UberNES.com website. Aside from that, installation consists of copying the Nintendo Saver.scr file into your Windows/System32 directory (yes, Windows only) and then pointing it at your ROMs directory to create a library content to pull from. You don’t need to install a separate emulator in order to play the games either.

Nintendo Screen Saver [UberNES via OhGizmo!]

Well, I don’t think it’s a stretch anymore to say that Comcast’s latest venture into online video is a off to a good start. CBS is the latest network to join the impressive lineup which also includes HBO and Cinemax as of yesterday. This networks is a big step for Comcast On Demand Online as CBS is the only major network not available on the free to everyone site, Hulu. But remember, Comcast On Demand Online will only be available to Comcast subs who currently pay for the stations. (e.g. if you can’t watch HBO on your TV, you can’t watch it online)

Comcast will open the service to 5,000 beta testers in the coming weeks. I’m just curious about how many more networks will sign up before it launches to everyone. The service already has the most of any online viewing site available with, all the major networks, HBO, Cinemax, Stars, TBS, TNT, and most of the cable stations.

CBS TO PARTICIPATE IN COMCAST’S ON DEMAND ONLINE
NATIONWIDE TRIAL

As the First Broadcaster To Participate, CBS Agrees to Test Standards and Principles for

“TV Everywhere” Model

NEW YORK and PHILADELPHIA, July 14, 2009 — CBS Corporation (NYSE:  CBS.A) and Comcast Corporation (Nasdaq:  CMCSA, CMCSK) announced today that CBS is the first broadcast network to participate in Comcast’s technical trial of On Demand Online.  The new service will significantly expand the number of top-rated TV shows available online and across platforms at no additional charge to Comcast’s cable customers while delivering increased advertising value to content owners.  During the course of the trial, CBS plans to test various types of current and library content.

“CBS and Comcast share the same vision of giving consumers more — more content, in more places,” said Matt Bond, Executive Vice President of Content Acquisition, Comcast Cable.  “On Demand Online is a major step in extending consumers’ television experiences online, and ultimately across platforms by giving any television network, including top brands like CBS, the ability to make their content available on the Web.”

“CBS is very supportive of initiatives that help extend our content to new platforms in such a way that we gain new audiences and additional value for our advertisers,” said Quincy Smith, Chief Executive Officer, CBS Interactive. “Comcast is already a trusted platform to distribute CBS content on air as well as on demand; expanding this relationship online is a logical step.  In addition, CBS’s strategy has always been about open, non-exclusive distribution of our content in a consumer friendly way, which is a core tenant of TV Everywhere and On Demand Online.”

CBS’s participation in Comcast’s technical trial comes on the heels of last month’s joint announcement between Time Warner Inc. and Comcast which introduced a set of principles called “TV Everywhere.”  Developed by the two companies, the principles are designed to serve as a framework to facilitate deployment of online television content in a way that is consumer friendly and pro-competitive.

Comcast will begin its technical trial of On Demand Online with approximately 5,000 customers from across the U.S. in the coming weeks – the first national trial of its kind.  A major focus of the trial is to test Comcast’s new “authentication” technology, which will allow Comcast customers to receive the same content online for free that they subscribe to on TV.  The service will utilize a simple log-on system for streaming content and, in the future, will allow for download content to go.  The On Demand Online service will roll-out in phases, adding new features, functionality and content over time to provide consumers with a new way to watch television.

On Demand Online is part of Comcast’s Project Infinity, the company’s long-term vision to give customers an ever growing amount of video content on multiple platforms, whenever they want.