• by Wayne Friedman , July 30, 2018

CBS stock continued to slip as the CBS board of directors meets today via a conference call, discussing misconduct allegations involving Les Moonves, CBS chairman/CEO.

CBS stock was down another 4% to $51.84 in early Monday morning trading after a 6% decline on Friday, following news that a New Yorker article detailed allegations of six women who claim that Moonves sexually harassed them.

Farrow spoke with women who allege that between the 1980s and the late 2000s, they were sexually harassed by Moonves and suffered professionally when they rejected his advances. Dozens of current and former CBS employees told Farrow such misconduct also extended to others.

They claim Jeff Fager, the former chairman of CBS News, and the current executive producer of "60 Minutes," the network’s flagship investigative broadcast, allowed harassment in the division.

This news comes amid a push from National Amusements, majority owner of both CBS and Viacom, to re-merge the companies. CBS had been resisting the move.

Todd Juenger, senior research analyst, for Bernstein Research, said: “If CBS loses its CEO, it increases the probability CBS gets sold.” However, he added: “We still believe CBS acquiring Viacom is a very low probability. ... we don't believe the CBS board would reverse their decision regarding the re-merger, even if the CBS CEO were to exit.”

With regard to the news about Moonves, a CBS statement on Friday said: “The timing of this report comes in the midst of the company’s very public legal dispute. While that litigation process continues, the CBS management team has the full support of the independent board members.”

Viacom mid-morning Monday stock price was down 1.1% to $29.01.