Jorja Fox was one of the sacked stars of CSI

Leslie Moonves said sacking Jorja Fox and George Eads was intended to end a trend for actors to demand more money even when they are under contract.

Fox and Eads held out for a pay rise and did not turn up for the first day of filming, they were later sacked.

They reportedly wanted a raise on their $100,000-per-episode (�53,400) salary.

"There comes a point where we feel a contract is a contract... We all have to look out for the future of the network television business," said Mr Moonves, co-president and co-chief operating officer of CBS' parent company, Viacom.

'Veiled threats'

He said Fox and Eads were five years into seven-year contracts, which had been re-negotiated after two years.

He added they had been offered a raise, which was not contractually necessary, but their lawyers made "veiled threats about their not showing up".

Lesley Moonves runs Viacom, CBS' parent company

Mr Moonves added that the actors' parts had not yet been recast, but CBS was "looking at certain people" and script revisions were being made.

Building the cast members Eric Szmanda and Paul Guilfoyle into bigger parts was also a possibility.

Last year filming on the sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond was delayed when one of its stars, Brad Garrett, held out for more money.

An agreement was eventually reached and Garrett came back to the show.

Flash

Sopranos star James Gandolfini also halted production of the HBO mafia drama after demanding more money, sparking a legal battle that was eventually resolved so the series could continue.

Meanwhile, Mr Moonves has said CBS will fight any attempt to fine the network over Janet Jackson's Superbowl breast flash.

The network faces a maximum penalty of $550,000 (�293,966) for screening Jackson and Justin Timberlake's live performance on 20 of its stations.

Mr Moonves told the Television Critics Association that it regretted the incident and had since imposed a five-second delay for live events, but said this was not viable for news and sports broadcasts.

"We think the idea of a fine for that is patently ridiculous and we're not going to stand for it," he said.