ViacomCBS Inc

LSE:0A65

Earnings Call Transcript 2018-Q3

[Operator]

Good day, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to today's CBS Corporation Third Quarter 2018 Earnings Release Teleconference. I'd like to remind everyone this call is being recorded.

And at this time, I'd like to turn the call over to Senior Vice President, Investor Relations, David Bank.

[David Bank, executive]

Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome to our third quarter 2018 earnings call. Joining us with today's remarks are Joe Ianniello, our President and Acting CEO; David Nevins, our Chief Creative Officer; and Chris Spade, our Chief Financial Officer. Following Joe, David and Chris' remarks, we will open the call up to questions.

Please note that during today's conference call, results will be discussed on an adjusted basis, unless otherwise specified. The third quarter and year-to-date 2018 results are adjusted to exclude costs related to certain corporate matters and certain benefits associated with tax law changes. Reconciliations for non-GAAP financial information related to this call can be found in our earnings release or on our website.

Also, note that statements on this conference call relating to matters which are not historical facts are forward-looking statements, which involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ. Risks and uncertainties are disclosed in CBS Corporation's SEC filings.

A webcast of this call and the earnings release today related to today's presentation can also be found on the Investor Relations section of our website at cbscorporation.com.

And with that, I'll turn the call over to Joe.

[Joseph Ianniello, executive]

Thank you, David, and welcome to our call. And good afternoon, everyone, and thanks for joining us. I want to take a minute and thank Adam Townsend for his outstanding years leading CBS Investor Relations. Showtime is in great hands with Adam as the CFO.

As David Bank mentioned, with me here today is David Nevins, our Chief Creative Officer. In his new, expanded role, David oversees all of the entertainment programming across the company. So I thought it would be helpful for you to hear from him today. He obviously brings a wealth of experience to this position as well as a clear track record of success at Showtime. I'd like to also welcome Chris Spade, our new Chief Financial Officer. While Chris is new to this position, she joins us having been an outstanding CFO for Showtime, and she's been a key member of that business for more than 2 decades. I've worked with both David and Chris for many years, and I look forward to their contributions today and in the future.

Now let me tell you about our third quarter results. Revenue was up 3% to $3.3 billion, and EPS was up 12% to $1.24. This was our best third quarter ever in revenue and EPS. I'm also pleased to tell you that we are reaffirming our outlook for 2018 with revenue growth in the high single digits and EPS growth in the high teens. Our success continues to be fueled by all the ways we are executing on our long-term strategy. We are driving new, incremental and recurring revenue from a number of significant growth areas: retrans and reverse comp, along with skinny bundles; our over-the-top, direct-to-consumer streaming services; global content licensing; and our expanded audience monetization efforts. Combined, these growth initiatives will generate more than $4 billion in revenue this year, which is up nearly 75% from 2015. Going forward, as we continue to position CBS as a global, multiplatform, premium content company, we are confident that there is significant upside from here.

Nowhere is the success of our strategy more evident than in the ways in which we are growing our subscribers across platforms. Quarter-after-quarter, our must-have content is driving increases at CBS and Showtime, pretty unique for a media company nowadays. In fact, we have now grown our total company subs every single quarter since we started discussing this metric. Whether it's large, traditional bundles, smaller streaming packages or stand-alone, direct-to-consumer services, we are distributing our content in all the ways consumers want it and reaping the benefits. And as we grow our subs, we continue to negotiate deals with distributors that better reflect the fair value of our content. So we are growing our ARPU or average rate per sub as well.

In fact, as viewers move to smaller offerings, they are transitioning to new platforms that pay us more than the old one. Our sub growth is especially strong where we get the highest rates, on our direct-to-consumer streaming services, CBS All Access and Showtime OTT. And we are more confident than ever that we can achieve our new goal of 8 million subs combined from these services in 2019, a full year ahead of our original schedule. In addition, that total doesn't include the direct-to-consumer subs that we are just beginning to get internationally. All Access Canada is off to a solid start, and we continue to expand into new markets. Here in the fourth quarter, we are launching our Australian version called 10 All Access. This new platform will include local programming from Network Ten as well as our premium CBS content, further distinguishing us from other leading SVOD platforms. We will continue to expand into new territories in 2019, and we are confident that digital distribution on a global scale will be very lucrative for CBS.

At the same time, we are also expanding our marquee brands onto ad-supported OTT platforms, led by the success of CBSN, our digital news network. Thanks to a 24/7 news cycle and our increasing political coverage, CBSN is now averaging more than 1 million streams per day. And the average age of the CBSN viewer is 38, which is decades younger than the average broadcast and cable news viewer. We continue to expand CBSN on virtual MVPDs, including a deal we just announced last week to provide it as a stand-alone channel to all the subscribers on Hulu's Live TV service. Later this quarter, we will begin the next phase by launching local versions of CBSN, featuring content from our owned-and-operated stations across the country. We will start with CBSN New York and then add other markets, including Los Angeles in early 2019.

CBS Sports HQ, our sports OTT service, also continues to grow as we feed the demand for more sports highlights, round the clock coverage, stats and analysis. Streams are up 25% from where we were at this point with CBSN. And just like all of our direct-to-consumer platforms, we are attracting new and younger viewers.

Our latest direct-to-consumer service is ET Live. Launched just yesterday, ET Live combines the best of the Entertainment Tonight brand with a new platform to reach consumers all day, every day.

All of these direct-to-consumer opportunities are only as successful as our premium content, and we continue to expand our programming pipeline. We are now producing an all-time high of 76 series across broadcast, cable and streaming outlets. We are making more shows for CBS All Access, selling more shows to third-party distributors and licensing more content internationally where the demands for our programming remain strong. As an example, our brand-new crime drama, FBI, has sparked huge interest, and we have already licensed it in more than 150 territories around the world.

Here in the U.S., now a little more than a month into the new season, we are very pleased that American households are watching more broadcast television for the first time in 4 years. Also, there's a little known fact out there that we remain the #1 network this season even without Thursday Night Football, and we have won the last 10 years in a row. And when the dust settles, we'll finish this broadcast season as the most watched network once again, and that's with or without Super Bowl LIII.

Speaking of football, NFL ratings are also up across networks. And here at CBS, we are up 3% so far this season, which is even higher than the industry average. This is also the first full season that viewers can watch our NFL coverage on all mobile devices, including on CBS All Access, and we are monetizing that viewing.

Also, during the quarter, we locked in a deal for the PGA Championship, extending it to 2030 and securing our position as the broadcast leader in golf. Importantly, the deal also includes expanded digital rights across all CBS platforms. In addition, the PGA Championship will now move to the spring where we expect higher ratings.

All told, 2019 will be a banner year for CBS Sports, starting with the AFC championship game, to Super Bowl LIII, to the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament and Final Four, to the Masters, to the PGA Championship, to SEC football and back to the NFL again, quite a year.

At CBS News, our flagship programs continue to raise the bar in journalism, leading the way is 60 Minutes, which remains the #1 news program and a consistent top 10 performer 51 years after its launch. And thanks to the continued, strong performance of CBS Sunday Morning, we are #1 on Sundays from dawn to dusk.

In late night, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and The Late Late Show with James Corden are widening their lead over the broadcast competition. And Colbert and Corden continue to be creative powerhouses that generate new shows for other platforms, including Carpool Karaoke on Apple, Drop the Mic on TBS and Our Cartoon President on Showtime. So by owning our 2 late-night shows, we are building new franchises that go far beyond late-night television.

We're also leading the way in first-run syndication where CBS has 7 of the top 10 shows. And we just locked in 3 of those shows, Dr. Phil, Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy!, to long-term deals.

Along with our continued programming success, we are also using advanced data and technology, both to deliver a higher ROI for our advertisers and to monetize our audiences more effectively. To that end, we are rolling out a proprietary new platform called DNA, which is short for data and audience. DNA allows advertisers to buy specific audience segments, so our advertisers can target people who like to eat out and drive SUVs rather than just buy the broad demographic of adults between the ages of 25 and 54. At the same time, we are also aggressively pursuing partnerships in set-top boxes and smart TVs to sell highly targeted, addressable ads. And we are using the data we collect from our direct relationship with the viewers on our OTT platforms to optimize our dynamic ad insertion capability. So as consumer habits change and technology advances, we're finding new ways to monetize our audiences, and it's becoming more valuable all the time.

Turning to cable. Showtime had yet another great quarter. We have 4 of the top 6 hour-long, scripted shows on premium cable. And our subs are now at an all-time high of more than 26 million, growing both in the linear MVPD universe and over-the-top. In fact, we are in the midst of our biggest year yet in Showtime OTT sign-ups as we continue to reach new and younger viewers by expanding onto new distribution services.

Showtime has also become the undisputed leader in boxing. So far, in 2018, we have had 12 marquee boxing events featuring 26 world title fights, and we are generating the highest level of viewers since 2014. We'll finish the year in a big way with a pay-per-view event on December 1 when world champion Deontay Wilder faces British star Tyson Fury in the most significant heavyweight fight in the U.S. since Mike Tyson-Lennox Lewis 16 years ago.

Premium content is also driving growth in our Publishing business. In its first week, Fear by Bob Woodward sold more than 1.1 million copies, which is more than any other title in Simon & Schuster's history. And here in the fourth quarter, we have several titles from some of our best-selling authors, including a new book from Stephen King, Elevation, which we just published this week, and one on the way from Mary Higgins Clark.

In Local Media, political spending at our TV stations is up more than 25% compared with the 2014 midterm elections. And for the first 9 months of the year, Local Media has seen its highest political spending for any election year. With a couple of significant ballot initiatives in California and competitive races in markets where we own leading CBS stations, including Texas, New Jersey and Florida, we expect a very strong finish here in Q4.

So across our company, our businesses are solid, and our growth strategy is clear. We are increasing the amount of programming we produce. We are driving fee-based subscription revenue. We're using data and technology to better monetize our viewership. And we are capitalizing on the changing consumer behavior with our direct-to-consumer streaming services. As a result, we are hitting our numbers today while building for a successful future down the road.

Now I'd like to take a moment to say how pleased I am with the way our employees have kept their focus on delivering the kind of results you see from us today. We have a very deep and stable management team that brings a combination of great experience and fresh ideas. And I am confident they will serve us well in the quarters to come. I look forward to their contributions as we continue to distinguish CBS as a global, multiplatform, premium content company.

Now I'd like to turn the call over to one of the key members of our management team, David Nevins, who will tell you more about our premium content. David?

[David Nevins, executive]

Thank you, Joe, and hello, everyone. I'm excited to take on this new role at the corporation and to have the opportunity here to talk about the outstanding content we are creating across our company.

Taken together, the CBS Television Network, CBS All Access and Showtime form a powerful programming powerhouse, one that not only fuels the financial engine that drives this company, but it also makes the CBS Corporation one of the most attractive places for Hollywood creatives to bring their best work.

As you heard, we are significantly ramping up our investment in programming. The 76 series that Joe mentioned are up from 65 a year ago and more than double what we did just 5 years ago. By producing more shows, we have more content to license, particularly in international marketplace. And we also have more content to roll out on our owned platforms, which in turn is accelerating the growth of new subscribers to Showtime and All Access and increases retention of our existing subs.

The bulk of our production comes from our CBS Television Studios, where our strategy is to look at individual shows as global brands, and our philosophy has been to sell a project wherever it has the best chance to thrive. As a result, we have ramped up our output, so much so that we have expanded our production capabilities with a new state-of-the-art facility in Toronto.

Just to give you a sense of some recent highlights. CBS Studios has 4 series in Netflix: Insatiable, Dead to Me, American Vandal and Unbelievable. A great example of how we're able to use the strength of our various platforms to attract top talent is the new 3-year deal we've just made with proven hit makers, Robert and Michelle King. They created The Good Wife for CBS, The Good Fight for CBS All Access, and shortly, they will begin production on a new drama for Showtime called Your Honor. More and more, the combination of powerful outlets and strong, experienced, creative leadership makes the CBS Corporation one of the most attractive homes for talent in the entire entertainment business.

Joe told you about the success of our programming on the CBS Television Network where we own 80% of our primetime schedule, including 5 of our 6 new shows. Without a doubt, the CBS Television Network is the best place to launch and sustain hits that feed the monetization pipeline throughout the world for years to come. Already, we've picked up 4 of our new series for the full season: FBI, God Friended Me, Magnum P.I. and The Neighborhood, and we have ownership in all 4. Beyond the fall, of our 10 midseason series, we have ownership in 8, including the scripted drama, The Red Line, from mega executive producers, Greg Berlanti and Ava DuVernay and starring Noah Wyle.

But we're not just building assets on our own network. A Million Little Things just received a full-season pickup at ABC. We're attracting great talent in the unscripted area as well. We will capitalize on the huge Super Bowl LIII audience to launch a new, global competition series, The World's Best, that James Corden will host and executive produce with big-name talent judges, Faith Hill, Drew Barrymore and RuPaul. It hails from 2 of the most successful unscripted executive producers in television history: Mark Burnett of Survivor and The Voice and Mike Darnell of American Idol.

We are also incubating Million Dollar Mile, a 10-episode, high-stakes competition series that challenges everyday athletes' physical and mental toughness. Million Dollar Mile comes from brand-new Laker and superstar producer, LeBron James, along with the executive producers of Big Brother. And we're really excited about Love Island, a dating competition series coming this summer that is adapted from the most popular program in the history of Britain's ITV network. It has not only garnered huge ratings. It has also driven huge social and cultural conversation. And with a back-end interest in each of these shows, the more success they have, the better it is for us in the long run.

In development, we continue to make significant content investments with several pilots and series commitments lined up in preparation for next season. Here, again, we prioritize being in business with the best and biggest creatives in order to develop a broad range, a diverse and inclusive programming that builds upon our loyal, core audience.

Complementing the deep roster of shows in the broadcast network is the increasingly robust CBS All Access slate. Last year, we began to offer original series at All Access. We've upped that steadily quarter-by-quarter, expanding the offering of original content that subscribers want. We just dropped Tell Me a Story, a psychological thriller from screenwriter Kevin Williamson, which premiered quite appropriately on Halloween last night. Our latest CBS All Access greenlight has gone to Why Women Kill, a dark, comedic drama from Desperate Housewives creator, Marc Cherry and Imagine Entertainment. We're also pursuing franchises with global appeal, including an exciting, new version of The Twilight Zone, which boasts 2018 Oscar winner Jordan Peele in the Rod Serling role of executive producer and host. Jordan reinvented the horror genre in Get Out with an infusion of social awareness, and we are thrilled to see what he'll bring to an iconic franchise like The Twilight Zone.

All Access will continue to be home to all things Star Trek. And we are expanding the franchise in a big way. Star Trek: Discovery was an international sensation, and we'll be launching Season 2 on January 17. In addition, we'll have a new, separate Star Trek scripted series starring the legendary Patrick Stewart, who will reprise his role as the beloved Captain Jean-Luc Picard. Also, a new Star Trek adult animated series called Lower Decks, which has landed at CBS All Access with a 2-year pickup. And we expect to have more Star Trek announcements coming shortly.

Obviously, it should come as no surprise, I'm also pleased to tout the accomplishments of Showtime. As Joe noted, Shameless, Homeland, Billions and The Chi give us 4 of the top 6, hour-long, scripted series in premium cable. And we expect the just premiered Ray Donovan to join that group of most-watched shows shortly.

Looking ahead, Showtime will be making some major waves over the next 3 months. The limited series Escape at Dannemora directed by Ben Stiller and starring Oscar winners Benicio del Toro and Patricia Arquette; and Golden Globe nominee Paul Dano, has every sign of being an inner circle awards contender. In addition, Shut Up and Dribble, executive produced by the aforementioned LeBron James and narrated by Jemele Hill, is a powerful inside look at the changing role of African-American athletes in this fraught political environment through the lens of the NBA.

In 2019, Showtime will continue to increase our output with the launch of several, high-profile shows, including Black Monday, a 1980s Wall Street-set comedy starring Don Cheadle, whom we're thrilled to have back on Showtime, along with Andrew Rannells and Regina Hall. Next year also brings our new drama series, City on a Hill, starring Kevin Bacon and Aldis Hodge, and a limited series about the rise and fall of Roger Ailes that stars Oscar winner Russell Crowe, Oscar nominee Naomi Watts, along with Seth MacFarlane and Sienna Miller.

Overall, CBS is strongly positioned to continue rewarding shareholders through the development, production, distribution and licensing of premium content. Each success we have breeds more success, with increased revenue leading to more investment.

And to offer more specifics on that and our overall financial picture, I'm happy to pass this call over to my friend and colleague, Chris Spade.

[Christina Spade, executive]

Thank you, David, and good afternoon, everyone. It is an honor and a privilege to take on my new role as the Chief Financial Officer for CBS Corporation. I am pleased to be on the call with you today.

As you heard, our creative success continues to lead to financial success. We turned in record revenue and record EPS, and we grew EPS for the 35th consecutive quarter even as we invested an additional $100 million in content in Q3. We believe that in the case of our company's trajectory, past is prologue, and our passive investment in innovation will continue to yield growth and strong return on investment.

Now let me give you some more details about our third quarter results. Revenue for the quarter was up 3% to $3.26 billion. Affiliate and subscription fees came in at $1 billion compared with $1.15 billion last year when Showtime had the Mayweather-McGregor pay-per-view boxing event. Our ongoing affiliate and subscription fee business increased 14%, led by our direct-to-consumer streaming services and virtual MVPDs, which together grew 79%. And we continue to see strong gains in retrans and reverse comp as well.

Content licensing and distribution revenue was up 8% to $933 million for the third quarter. On a year-to-date basis, content licensing grew 10% to $3 billion as our higher content investment gives us more programming to license across platforms and around the world.

We also had a solid quarter in advertising, which grew 14%, driven by our Network Ten acquisition. Here in the U.S., advertising grew 4%. And at the CBS Television Network, advertising was comparable on an underlying basis for the quarter and year-to-date. And we remain on track to achieve about $4 billion in network advertising for 2018, which is consistent with prior years.

Also, during the quarter, operating income came in at $736 million compared with $729 million a year ago, reflecting our higher investment in programming and technology for our new direct-to-consumer platform. And as Joe said, EPS was up 12% to a record $1.24.

On a year-to-date basis, we delivered record revenue and record EPS. Revenue for the first 9 months of the year was up 7% to $10.5 billion, driven by retrans and reverse comp, which is up 22% year-to-date. And EPS was up 15% to $3.70.

Now let's turn to our operating segments. Entertainment revenue for the third quarter came in at $2.2 billion, up 19%, with strong growth across our key sources of revenue. Advertising and content licensing revenue were each up 16%. And affiliate and subscription fee revenue rose 32%, driven by growth in reverse comp, CBS All Access and virtual MVPD.

Entertainment operating income for the third quarter was up 8% to $377 million even as we ramped up our programming investments. Year-to-date, we have produced 12% more hours of programming for both our own platform and for other network.

Third quarter Cable Networks revenue came in at $569 million compared with $840 million last year when we had the big pay-per-view event. As you heard, we now have more than 26 million subs at Showtime, and we continue to benefit from the growth of Showtime OTT as we expand with new distributors such as Spotify, which targets the college market.

Cable Networks operating income came in at $248 million compared with $296 million last year, due to the timing of licensing revenue and our higher investment in programming. This includes the production and marketing of 2 new and successful owned shows, Sacha Baron Cohen's Who Is America? and Jim Carrey's Kidding.

Switching to Publishing. Revenue reached $240 million in Q3, a 5% increase, as Simon & Schuster delivered higher print and digital sales. In particular, digital audio continues to grow strongly and was up 17% during the quarter. In addition to Fear by Bob Woodward, other third quarter bestsellers included Whiskey in a Teacup from Reese Witherspoon and Red War by Vince Flynn.

Publishing operating income of $51 million grew 9% in the third quarter driven by higher sales. And our Publishing operating income margin was a solid 21%.

Third quarter Local Media revenue rose 9% to $434 million, fueled by both strong growth in retrans revenue and by an increasingly heated market for political advertising as the midterm elections approach. Other particularly strong categories during the quarter were entertainment and health care.

Local Media operating income increased 17% to $124 million, and our Local Media operating income margin expanded 2 points to 29%.

Turning to cash flow and our balance sheet. Free cash flow for the first 9 months of 2018 was up 31% to $1.1 billion. We are using our cash to invest in content, and much of the increase in free cash flow is driven by growth in affiliate and subscription fees and lower tax payments. During the quarter, we repurchased 1.8 million shares of our stock for $100 million, and we remain on track to repurchase approximately $800 million of our stock for the year.

Now let me tell you what we see ahead. In advertising, we expect a strong finish to the year, thanks to the midterm election. Local Media revenue is pacing to be up in the high teens. At the networks, scatter is up 20% to 30% across daypart. And we're seeing a lot of excitement surrounding World's Best, which, as you heard, will air right after the Super Bowl.

In content licensing, we currently have nearly 800 episodes of hit shows that we can bring to the domestic marketplace, which we will be monetizing this year and in years to come. And all of the new series we just launched at CBS, Showtime, CBS All Access and The CW will continue to add to our content pipeline.

In affiliate, subscription fees, we expect retrans and reverse comp revenue to surpass $1.6 billion for 2018. And next year, we will have more than 30% of our footprint in both retrans and reverse comp coming up for renewal.

In over-the-top, as Joe said, we expect to reach 8 million subscribers combined at CBS All Access and Showtime OTT next year, and that does not even include subscribers from international expansion.

So in summary, as 2019 approaches, CBS stands in an enviable position. We are set to achieve our 2018 outlook of revenue growth in the high single digits and EPS growth in the high teens. Our unique asset portfolio, the #1 network on television, a leading television studio, a rapidly growing premium cable network and our deep library and scalable platform provide strong foundation for more growth long term. And we are excited about the significant growth opportunities we see before us from our direct-to-consumer streaming services, retrans and reverse comp, skinny bundles, global content licensing and our expanded audience monetization efforts. So we remain confident in our future. And as we execute on our long-term growth strategy, we will continue to deliver for our shareholders.

With that, Greg, we can now open the line for questions.

[Operator]

[Operator Instructions] And first from JPMorgan, we have Alexia Quadrani.

[Alexia Quadrani, analyst]

My question is on the content production of third-party content. A few years ago, I think when you gave guidance at your Investor Day for content sales, I think production of third-party content wasn't that big of a deal back then. Today, it seems like a huge opportunity for you as one of the most successful TV studios. I guess how incremental could this opportunity be to your targets or just in general? And my follow-up will be on Showtime. We saw HBO go dark today on one of the distributors. Any update on how Showtime is positioned in general distribution?

[Joseph Ianniello, executive]

Okay. Alexia, it's Joe. I'll take the first part, and David will take the second part. Look, I mean, you're seeing us double our content production output over 5 years. And that's what gives us the confidence when we put in the content licensing as one of our growth pillars a few years ago, monetizing that content as we sell that content in windows, that really comes back and really affords us the ability to sell it over and over and over again. And so we keep producing quality content that third parties want because their consumers are telling them they want it. And so that's a really good thing. So we produce for ourselves, but as you point out, we're producing for others. So we've been ramping that steadily, and we have capacity to do a lot more. David, you want to take the second part?

[David Nevins, executive]

Yes. I mean, we have good relationships with our distributors, our MVPD distributors. And we have great confidence in the quality and the desirability of our programming. So we take that in every negotiation.

[Operator]

Next from Bank of America Merrill Lynch, we have Jessica Reif.

[Jessica Reif Cohen, analyst]

The first question, you guys have been incredibly stable. I'm just wondering, given the changes that you've had within the organization, are your priorities changing in any way, whether they're operating or capital structure. Will there be further management changes throughout the organization? And the second topic, since David's on, on Showtime specifically, you're now at 26 million subs, which, I mean, you've had amazing growth over the last few years. But relative to other SVOD services at this point, it still seems like there's a lot of upside. Can you give us color on how you see the next few years shaping up for Showtime subscriptions?

[Joseph Ianniello, executive]

Okay. Jessica, I'll take the first part and again, David will take the second. Look, we've certainly made some changes here at the company, but I think Chris and David have been with the company several years and any other changes. These are seasoned veterans, very talented and deep bench, and I think we're demonstrating that. As far as our priorities are going, our priority is always to, first and foremost, reinvest in our business. And what that is, is that's content creation because the success we're having is driven by the content pipeline that we were just highlighting. And so I don't see any change in that philosophy. It's always been that way. So again, down the road, I mean, I don't see any other significant changes. Like I said, I'm pretty proud of the team we have assembled here. And I want to give them exposure to Wall Street so you all can see how deep and talented they are. David?

[David Nevins, executive]

So Jessica, your question about what is the ceiling for Showtime. Look, here's how I look at it. We're in 26 million households. 115 million, 120 million households in the U.S., that's 22% penetration. I see a lot of desire and upside from where we sit. The good news for us is, we've gone from being a -- you had to pay the $120. We're now accessible at multiple price points. So I think we become much more accessible to a broader range of consumer. And that's just talking about the domestic piece. Internationally, I think there's also great demand for what Showtime is. And the brand is getting stronger and stronger around the world, so I'm optimistic.

[Operator]

Next, we have Mike Morris with Guggenheim Securities.

[Michael Morris, analyst]

A couple of questions about your digital services. Wondering if you could share how most of your customers are accessing your services from a device perspective. Is it connected TVs, mobile devices, et cetera? And how are they using it? Are they watching an increasing amount of live content? Is it mostly on-demand? And does it matter to you either how they come on board or what they watch with respect to your ability to monetize from an advertising perspective? And then I have another one on distribution.

[Joseph Ianniello, executive]

Okay. Mike, I'll take it. It's Joe. Look, I mean, we're finding they're definitely accessing it differently. I think mobile is showing. Certainly, the biggest growth that we're seeing. I think live is certainly growing as part of that, but also the original series. And so an All Access subscriber watches twice as much content as those who watch it on cbs.com. So that tells us, again, they like it when they're in the environment. We have direct-to-consumer offerings, but we also do it through other partners. Showtime's distributed on Amazon and Hulu. And so we're seeing the subscribers use those other types of bundles as well. And so what David has mentioned just on the previous point, right, the buy-through is very different. That $100-some-odd cable buy-through is now lower if they're buying a Hulu or an Amazon Prime subscription. So we have nice diversity in terms of the consumption of the content, but they're watching it more. And that's why we're putting more originals on both of these services because it's really driving, again, the intent to subscribe and it's reducing churn. And those are the 2 things we're really toggling back and forth as we make these investments. What's your second question, Mike?

[Michael Morris, analyst]

Yes. Just on that, is the targeting -- it seems like it's easier to target and perhaps you get the higher CPM in like a VOD viewer versus trying to target on a live stream. I guess the question is like, what's the balance of that like now? And have you been able to push those CPMs up through the targeting?

[Joseph Ianniello, executive]

Yes. Obviously, you're referring to CBS All Access because Showtime, obviously, there's no delay.

[David Nevins, executive]

Showtime is agnostic to that when people watch.

[Joseph Ianniello, executive]

But I think also to point out, CBS All Access subscribers, 1/3 of them are now ad-free as well. So we're seeing that kind of growth. But your point on the ones where there are ads, yes, we're seeing CPMs significantly higher than comparable broadcast networks. And obviously, you have more attractive demos, but you have, as you call, specific targeting. So we're rolling that out. And that's why I said, more and more, as we're using this data to be smarter and be more effective for our advertisers, it's really a big opportunity. But I would say, we're really still in the early innings of that, but we're laser-focused on capitalizing on it.

[David Nevins, executive]

That's the concept of the DNA platform, the advertising platform that Joe described is, you can target in VOD and linear.

[Michael Morris, analyst]

And just if I could on the aggregators and Amazon channels in particular, there's a little bit of concern that they're pushing back on the economic relationship with the channels there, displaying it. Is that something that you've experienced with them? And sort of what's your view on the importance of those aggregators and what those relationships look like going forward economically?

[David Nevins, executive]

We just renewed with Amazon on very comparable terms. So we have not found that. The value they're finding out of Showtime where they're making money off of Showtime so it's been a win-win.

[Operator]

Next is Doug Mitchelson with Crédit Suisse.

[Douglas Mitchelson, analyst]

Look, I think 2018 is probably 10-plus percent EPS growth ex tax reform. And investors, I think, generally think of CBS as being capable of putting up that kind of growth going forward. Joe, I'm wondering, you've talked a lot about investing in content, investing in digital. How are you balancing driving earnings growth versus investing in content for digital and Showtime and third parties? And then my unrelated follow-up since we have a lot of Showtime experts on the call. There's been some questions on Showtime, but I want to get to the heart of it, which is, you've had a lot of content success, and you've been investing in content. I think profitability has been relatively stable the last few years, not a ton of revenue growth at Showtime. So you've solidified your position in an increasingly competitive environment. But is there a story behind driving sort of margins or profitability at Showtime next year or the next few years? I would love to hear it.

[Joseph Ianniello, executive]

Okay. Doug, I'll take the first part, and Chris will take the Showtime piece. Doug, look, we're constantly balancing the investment and looking at the profitability, but we're building asset value here for sure. So we're not managing the company for margin. I think what you're seeing in our results, right, we're maintaining our margin because some of these initiatives are very high-margin dollars, offset by incremental investment into more content and the OTT platforms. So I think you're seeing us able to do that consistently. And obviously, with tax reform, we have a lower -- forget about the P&L for a second -- book tax rate, but a lower cash tax rate. And so we're reinvesting those back into the business. And that, again, is the highest return on investment for shareholders. And it continues to be the case. So we're not betting the company. We've seen proof points. Before we took up our All Access and Showtime sub count, we put originals on it. We saw it was working. We saw the consumers wanted more. So we're putting more on it. We've raised the targets. We've accelerated them. We're going internationally. So I think we've been good stewards of capital as we've been allocating this and growing our business steadily for the future. If we would have done that a few years ago, we wouldn't have been ready to capitalize on it because we didn't have the infrastructure, the capabilities of doing that. And so I think it's been really a win-win for investors, really, as we reallocate that capital. But first and foremost, always the priority, build asset value. Chris, you want to take the second part?

[Christina Spade, executive]

Sure. Doug, it's Chris. So that's a great question about Showtime. I just want to make sure first for the quarter that it's clear to everyone that for the quarterly revenue, we did have the noncomparable item of the Mayweather event that skews the results when you look at last year. So when you take that out, the result for Cable Networks is relatively flat. But there's 2 things going on there. The underlying affiliate, subscription fee revenue did grow, but that's being offset by the timing of content licensing. So for Showtime, in terms of looking ahead at our affiliate and subscription fee growth, it's a strong business, and it's going to just continue to get stronger. In terms of looking at how we manage the profitability for Showtime, I mean, the world of OTT now has opened up so many options with what we can do with data analytics and really unlock and target our marketing. So 2 years into it, we have a lot of great use of the data. But even as we get further educated and learn even more about our consumer, the scale of the business is huge. So really, the important thing right now is that we have to manage our expense investment and make sure that we're not leaving revenue on the table. And I don't think we're doing that right now. So it is a balance, but I think we have a lot of intelligence in our favor.

[Operator]

Next is Michael Nathanson with MoffettNathanson.

[Michael Nathanson, analyst]

I have one for David and one for Joe. David, let me start with you first. How do you think longer term about international? I know in some markets like Europe and maybe in India, you've decided to license your content to other third-party networks versus going alone. So as those deals come up, how are you thinking about taking the Showtime brand globally and maybe some markets that are already proving positive that there's demand for OTT content?

[David Nevins, executive]

Well, we are building the brand. The brand of Showtime is starting to mean something outside the U.S. It certainly does in Canada, particularly the English-speaking world, in the U.K., Australia, even in France where I spent a couple of weeks this summer. People are starting to know what a Showtime show is. And as these deals come up, we're always going to be evaluating what is the maximum monetization possibility. Going forward, we'll be looking at more of a mix of licensing and subscription revenue. And we're not going to say here which markets we might go first in launching a subscription business, but there will be a lot of finesse required to figure out. We don't want to turn off the licensing pipeline. It's been very effective for us. But we feel like there's a lot of potential in a global subscription business. So we're making those decisions tactically as deals come up.

[Michael Nathanson, analyst]

Okay. And then, Joe, along the same lines for you with All Access. How do you decide or think about licensing off network CBS shows to maybe SVOD companies that don't show advertising versus moving that same content to All Access? So how are you thinking about that decision you have to make?

[Joseph Ianniello, executive]

Yes. Sure, Michael. Look, I think we think about them individually as individual assets or franchises. So for instance, we're going to have Twilight Zone here, and we can keep it on All Access domestically. That's going to happen. Internationally, we can use it to grow our OTT business internationally or we can license it. And so we're going to do an analysis. It's going to be really simple. What are the offers in the marketplace for licensing? And how many subs do we think we can get in these countries? And we're going to look at that and we're going to see what's in the best interest. Because some of these things, again, as David was really alluding to, if we're not ready to capitalize on the subscription business. We might as well take the money to reinvest it and do more with it. And so we don't have one-size-fits-all like some of our other competitors. I think we look at it like each piece of content on what it's going to do individually. And so we know, at the end of the day, there will be more content in the CBS Showtime offerings, no question about it, but it's okay to sell our content to third parties as well.

[David Nevins, executive]

I just want to point out one thing, to add to what Joe was saying. What we've learned is that the more we build the tech of our own platforms and the strength and brand of our own platforms of All Access and Showtime, the more optionality we have as to where to monetize. To the extent that we can monetize our own platforms, that's great. And that gives us optionality when we're making licensing decisions. And that's one of the reasons why we have been so focused these last couple of years on building up our own platforms.

[Operator]

Next question is from Bryan Kraft with Deutsche Bank.

[Bryan Kraft, analyst]

I'm hoping to better understand how the expansion of your OTT services to international markets will impact the trajectory of the financials. So what are the key things that you need to do when you enter a market with All Access? What are the big challenges that you found? And how significant are the cost to enter and operate in a new country? If you could maybe just talk about that at a high level to help us try to understand that, that would be great.

[Joseph Ianniello, executive]

Yes. Sure, Bryan. Look, I think that's why we did Canada first. We wanted to see the incremental cost. I think, again, a lot of the costs are fixed. So it will be scalable that infrastructure. So I think, again, incrementally, it doesn't make sense if all we were going to do is just to be in Canada. So we are absorbing, I would think about it in the tens of millions as opposed to the hundreds of millions for the infrastructure. And then the content, I think we just talked about that from the last question on how -- we're obviously going to have to put enough content in the offerings to drive the sub count. And I think as we're doing more originals, as we have CBS library and Showtime library product in there, I think we're making the value compelling to the consumer. This is driven by consumer demand. This isn't driven because we think it's a nice way to distribute it. This is the way consumers want it, via broadband, at the touch of a button, willing to pay a subscription fee. And it doesn't matter. It's borderless. We don't have to be confined to the United States. And so really, that's the way. And I think, again, I'd look at 2018, Bryan, as the example, right? You're seeing us with a steady margin enter into a couple of different countries, doing a lot more shows. And the reason we're able to do that, like I just said, is because the other revenue, the retrans and reverse comp, the licensing are very high margin. And that's being offset. You have 2 things kind of going on there. We're pretty proud that we're able to do that and not reset the P&L in order to ramp up investment.

[Bryan Kraft, analyst]

The EU requirement for 30% local content, is that going to, in a way, slow your plans in Europe or is that something that's fairly easy?

[Joseph Ianniello, executive]

No. You see what we just did with, obviously, Network Ten. We think having local content is actually valuable. I don't think we have to buy and do a strategic deal to do that. I think we can do a commercial deal. But we do like the offering of having live, local content in the market, plus premium CBS and Showtime there, plus library. That seems compelling for under $10 a month. So you should assume on some of these markets, wherever there are local restrictions, we will partner with some of our local friends to make it, again, a compelling offering.

[Operator]

Next is David Miller with Imperial Capital.

[David Miller, analyst]

Joe, just a couple of questions. As you take over leadership of the company, do you see any change at the margin regarding how many series on the broadcast network you own, how many you sell to third parties and then how many series you, let's call it, rent from other production entities? Les used to say it was all about having the best shows on the network regardless of source. I'm talking about the broadcast network, of course, but just curious if you see a change in that. And then a separate question, how much of a priority is potentially acquiring additional stations, assuming the cap was ever relaxed? If memory serves, I think you'd have at least 3 Republican votes on the docket once the FCC hears the case formally. So appreciate your thoughts there.

[Joseph Ianniello, executive]

Yes. Sure. I got it, David. Look, I think, from a network perspective, I think we're always looking for the best content. I think we're open for business for others studios. That said, as we sit here, more than 80% of the schedule, we have ownership in. So I don't really see it changing really dramatically from there. But again, the network has limited shelf space. The good news is, for All Access, that really kind of changes the complexion because if we have a good CBS show from our studio, we certainly can put it inside of CBS All Access. And if there's a great Warner Bros. show, we can certainly monetize it on the CBS network. So the fact that we have different outlets, I think, only increases the outputs, if you will. But we definitely are in the business of putting the best shows on the network. I think that's very important.

As far as local stations and acquiring them, look, I think we certainly have room within the cap. If the cap gets lifted, we have more room. As you know, we look to be opportunistic there. And so we'll always look at it, as you just pointed out. Is it a political market? What's the size of the market? Is it a NFL market? So if we can find some stations at values that make sense, we're always in it in the market. But if we're not, we still get our value. And so that's why I say, it's very opportunistic. It's not like we need to own that station because we're going to get our value vis-à-vis reverse comp. And so from our vantage point, the content is what's driving the value. But if we can own the license and have local programming in that market, it's only additive. But we're going to always look at it through that lens.

[Operator]

In that case, our final question will be from Steven Cahall with RBC Capital Markets.

[Steven Cahall, analyst]

Just a few on advertising. I was wondering if you could elaborate a little more on your DNA strategy. Do you have a target of the amount of inventory that you think you can capture on this? And relatedly, would you be willing to do something in live linear dynamic ad insertion? I think Nielsen ratings have really been a challenge to networks converting to anything on live linear. I have just a quick follow-up on local advertising.

[Joseph Ianniello, executive]

Yes. Look, we haven't set targets on what we're going to do. And look, I don't think we're going to -- the live linear really kind of do because obviously we're monetizing C7, and we're selling that inclusively. And so I think what we're doing is, we're watching the data that we're getting on the consumption. So like I said earlier, Steven, we're really in the early innings. So I think you're going to see us really target the VOD, the video on demand inventory. And we're going to certainly do it on our own platforms first. And we're going to be smarter about it. We're going to see it work for our advertisers, and then we'll expand from there. But it's going to be a slow and steady rollout. But like I said, the demographics and the capabilities are really encouraging, but I don't want to get ahead of ourselves on this. Did you have a follow-up?

[Steven Cahall, analyst]

Great. Yes, Chris, thanks for the pacing on local advertising in Q4 with political. I was wondering if you could just give us a sense of what local advertising is looking like ex political.

[Joseph Ianniello, executive]

Let me take that. Let me take that because Chris is still getting...

[Christina Spade, executive]

I'm still getting my key.

[Steven Cahall, analyst]

I thought you might have felt left out.

[Christina Spade, executive]

For me, I know it's strength in the political. But I'll let Joe handle the other piece.

[Joseph Ianniello, executive]

Yes. Look, Steven, as you know, it's very hard to do that because political is taking up all of the inventory. These next 5 days, I mean, I think we have a chance to have a record-setting year even in a presidential one, which we set in 2016. And so a lot of the regular categories are really being pushed outside after November 6. And so it's a little bit distorted right now. I think Chris' point is high teens. It's pacing up high teens. And obviously, for the fourth quarter, we only have political, really, for 1 month out of that because after November 6. So I think that's all factored in her guidance there. But it's really distorted because it's the same number of units year in and year out. It's just a massive demand that's really pushing others around the edges and stuff. But it's going to be a hell of a year for local political advertising.

[Christina Spade, executive]

Also, we did see strength in entertainment and health care. So there was strength in those areas.

[David Bank, executive]

Thanks, Greg. This concludes today's call. Thank you, everyone, for joining us and have a great evening.

[Operator]

Once again, ladies and gentlemen, that does conclude our call for today. Thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect.