The mass media company was among the most active names on the Nyse Tuesday.

From a recent Mad Money show:"Down here at $4, I can't tell you to stay away from it, but it is speculative at this point."

From a recent Mad Money show: "Down here at $4, I can't tell you to stay away from it, but it is speculative at this point."

Recession Hits the Sports World: With the world in the midst of a recession, the sports business is finding out it's not immune to the effects of the faltering economy.
Click here to watch the video.

media will be the first to come back

CBS (CBS) ... what the heck? Three dollars? Wasn't that in the $20s? Alcoa (AA) was in the $30s and $40s forever. Now it is at $6.

One was CBS (CBS), which slashed its quarterly common payout 81%, to a nickel a share from 27 cents. The company posted a record loss of $11.7 billion in 2008, owing to huge advertising declines at its television, radio and outdoor-display units. Chief Executive Leslie Moonves called the dividend cut "prudent," but noted that CBS "continues to produce strong cash flow, and we have returned $5.5 billion of that cash to shareholders in just three years as a stand-alone company" (it split from Viacom ). Moonves said this move "will further strengthen our financial flexibility to meet our debt obligations." He added that CBS' 4% yield is "at the forefront of the media industry." Fitch Ratings sees the payout cut as a credit positive because it could result in over $1 billion in additional free cash flow over the next two years. Fitch says that cash, coupled with CBS' existing cash balances, should give the company the ability to repay $1.4 billion of senior notes maturing in 2010 and $1 billion more in 2011 without relying on external re-sources -- unless it wants to, should credit markets recover by then.

Which dividends are in danger? The nearby table, Too Good to Be Paid?, includes 10 prominent stocks with high dividend yields that may be in jeopardy. The companies include General Electric, CBS and Alcoa . They have high payout ratios or nonmeaningful ratios because they are projected to lose money. These 10 stocks, many of which are down sharply in the past year, could rebound in 2009, but investors shouldn't buy them for their seemingly attractive dividends.

And in case you’re wondering, Finerman says to avoid CBS [CBS] and the N.Y. Times [NYT]. She suggests CBS may have to cut their dividend and "the Times may have to cut further.”

Or if you’re looking for a stock to short, Grreenfield suggests CBS [CBS] and News Corp [NWS].

pdtomuch

stock price has dropped so much

cheap

Doing terrible

irresponsible

former employer

CBS has top rated shows, but that doesn't matter when the best show on TV is American Idol and no one watches TV anymore. The internet is king, not TV.

CBS Corporation