CBS admitted to losing $55 million in the first year of its contract with major league baseball while denying persistent rumors that it may cost the network's sports president, Neal Pilson, his job.

The $55 million loss was computed after taxes. Industry analysts earlier predicted that the losses could top $100 million.At the same time, the network also said it would write off $115 million more in losses over the remaining three years of the baseball contract, which was for $1.06 billion over four years. 1990 was the first year of the contract.

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The network's losses were attributed to a general downturn in the economy, resulting in lower advertising prices, and poor World Series ratings for Cincinnati's four-game sweep of Oakland.

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