CBS says it won’t budge on ad rates

CBS is standing firmly behind its decision not to cut advertising rates for the coming season, despite NBC’s acknowledgment that it is reducing prices by about 5 percent and reports that ABC is following suit. CBS spokesman Dana McClintock told Friday’s New York Daily News, “Look at the performance of last year with the number one show Survivor and the number one new show in CSI. … If you look at our growth on Thursday night and you look at the fact that many of the buyers and pundits felt that our schedule was the strongest, we feel it justifies the prices we are asking for.”