There can be few people in the media business as upbeat as Leslie Moonves. The chief executive of CBS is staring at recession in the face; advertising across the TV industry is under pressure as the US economy contracts; and "time-shifting" viewers are increasingly using digital video recorders to bypass ads altogether.

Yet, Mr Moonves, who once risked the ire of the US Treasury Department when he and several other media moguls had a private lunch with Fidel Castro, the Cuban leader, is unerringly optimistic, his faith in US network TV undiminished.