Battle with Time Warner won CBS chief Les Moonves' key control over digital distribution

There were millions of losers in the August skirmish between CBS and Time Warner Cable. CBS was not one of them.

Time Warner Cable and the 3.2 million viewers whose TV screens went dark when the cable giant unplugged CBS on Aug. 3 turned out to be the ones who got the short end of the stick. Time Warner grudgingly gave in to CBS’ demands for total control over its programming distribution to online devices like iPads, phones and set-top boxes. Those steps promise to give it the ability to “cut the cord” from cable companies. Along with a hefty raise — TWC now will pay CBS around $2 for each subscriber, up from just $.50 (a fee sure to be passed along to consumers) — the network also gained the ability to sell the same content to new distributors, like Intel and Sony, along with other emerging technologies.