CBS Corp. became the latest company to move toward centralized ownership of its media operations, offering to buy back $1.6 billion worth of its own stock.
The company’s board of directors also upped its quarterly dividend by 14 percent from 22 to 25 cents per share. The dividend is payable on Oct. 1, 2007 to stockholders of record as of Sept. 14, 2007.
“Raising our dividend and using a portion of our excess cash to buy back shares reaffirms CBS’s commitment to return a sizable portion of our strong free cash flow to shareholders,” said President and CEO Leslie Moonves.
Assets of CBS Corp. (part of Viacom) include the CBS Television Network; The CW (a joint venture between CBS Corp. and Warner Bros. Entertainment); Showtime; and 39 local television stations. The corporation also owns production and syndication units, CBS Radio, publishing house Simon and Schuster, and other operations.
