CBS shares tumbled after Sheen was rushed to hospital

Call it an inherent bias among investors. Shares of CBS Corp. (NYSE: CBS) tumbled by about 2.9 percent at about 11:30 EST, right at about the time it was announced that its highest paid star, Charlie Sheen, was rushed to the hospital with severe abdominal pain, although no rational correlation between the two incidents could be found.

CBS shares recovered in the trading session and closed 1.55 percent down on the day.

The correlation would seem odd to most people. It is true that “Two and a Half Men,” in which Sheen is the star, is CBS’ most popular show with 20 million viewers per week, but CBS doesn’t produce the show, Warner Bros., a unit of Time Warner (NYSE: TWX) does. TWX shares edged up 0.03 percent.

CBS does have other mega-popular shows, such as “NCIS” and “Hawaii Five-0.”

“Two-and-a-Half Men,” however, is its biggest money maker in terms of ad sales, as the show garnered $155 million in revenue last season. CBS owns a fraction of the show, and pays a large fee to Warner Bros. for its rights.

Still, as one analyst pointed out, there was no other reason for the network’s shares to be down today. The announcement that Sheen was taken to the hospital came at 8:30 am PST. No details on his condition have been reported, although Sheen’s ongoing problems with alcohol and drug addiction are well documented.