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Ratings are so strong for the network’s current programs that “we aren’t going to need very much” for the fall primetime lineup, CBS chief Les Moonves told analysts today. He isn’t being complacent: CBS “ordered a couple of more pilots than in previous years” and the people involved in them are “phenomenal.” (See our listings here.) Still, “my guess is there aren’t going to be a lot of new shows” in May when CBS presents its lineup at the annual upfront presentation to advertisers. Moonves was uncharacteristically reluctant to say how big a price increase he expects in this year’s upfront. “My sales department will kill me,” he says. “Last year I said double digits [percent increase] and we only had 9%.” Even though he wouldn’t mention a number, he says “I’m feeling very confident.” But he may have to wait before advertisers are ready to go along with his proposal to measure commercial viewers based on the number of people who see them on DVRs or other platforms up to a week after they air — up from the current three days. “We’re in conversations with advertisers” but “I don’t know if it will be ready for this upfront.”
Related: CBS Adds $1B To Share Repurchase Plan As Q4 Earnings Fall Shy Of Expectations
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Les knows his audience — the old and indifferent. Props to him for staying the course!
Les is smart. He goes for VIEWERS. If they aren’t young and perky, who the fuck cares? They don’t have any money anyway. I look forward to the broadcast networks finally realizing that so they can shift focus to A35+ who still watch television instead of courting the tweenyboppers who never have and never will what TV as children of the 90s and earlier did.
He’s pretty spot-on about not needing much this fall — although they should probably hold off a few more shows for midseason so as to be able to launch more in the fall.
MOM is a lock for either Monday after “Mother” or Thursday after “Bang” with an assumed expansion of their comedy block on Thursdays. Tuesday will be “NCIS” night unless the pilot to the NCIS:LA spinoff turns out to be a mess.
Keep Wednesday night intact. No need messing with a good thing.
Unless “Two and a Half Men” is going to be held for midseason with “Rules of Engagement” to launch a new comedy after “Bang” (not a bad idea), then Thursday nights will remain largely intact.
“The Good Wife” has to be moved from Sundays. “Hawaii Five-O” can better absorb the fall football upheaval. Plus, “Five-O” is more male-skewing and better suited for the football audience. “Wife” may work on Monday nights at 10 or leading into “Blue Bloods” out of “CSI:NY” (assuming it sees a tenth season) on Friday nights.
No way, RoE gets renewed. Warburton signed on for another pilot, it will hit 100 episodes this season, ’nuff said.
It’s not good writing or producing at CBS it’s the people Les wants to be in business with and malecentric shows that reflect his patriarchal world view. MIddle aged white men need to run the world. Women should always be younger than the men on CBS shows and there are fewer female roles than male roles. I’m sure the men make more money than the women too.
They’re stuff is so boring, who cares if they ever ordered any series, ever again?
They should do more co-productions with Amazon and Netflix. Expanding the target audience beyond old ladies increases the odds that they’ll do something slightly interesting.
Why would Cbs order anything or bother changing anything when people just keep on drinking the Cbs kool-aid. To top it all off they are adding yet another NCIS series. As if the original isn’t empty and blah enough. 3 NCIS on the air? Those are three hours I’ll spend watching something,ANYTHING else!
You always get More More More with Les!
Les and Nina are my favorite network exec team – they do good work. I know we all make fun of the average age of a CBS viewer, but the CBS team run that network like a swiss-watch – good game plan and strategy, great execution, reliable results. That’s hard to beat.
They may not always have the most daring programming, but they always seem to come up with the most daring, aggressive schedule move of the Up Fronts in May. And they moves always seem to work.
I think they’ll do it again – 2.5 Men will move to 9pm Thursdays, they’ll move PoI back to 10pm, and they’ll move Elementary somewhere else on schedule to do battle on another night – maybe Wednesday at 9pm, moving Criminal Minds to 8pm hour? If they do that, look out.
By ordering more than the usual number of pilots, it gives CBS the widest possible choice to choose from.
The problem is they’ve ordered a lot of good pilots from good people!
No doubt. I’d watch Gaffigan, Super Clyde, Jacked Up, Beverly Hills Cop or The McCarthys any time they are on. Hopefully, they have a bunch of midseason shows. I don’t really care if the shows live long or not. I just want to see them!
Their problem is also their fortune, which always seems to be the case with CBS. You have to admire them. It’s nice to have an abundance of quality dramas and comedies on hand. It says a lot about their leadership and their ability to find great pilots. Year after year they find television programming that endures in the hearts of Americans and keeps millions of viewers tuning in season after season.
And liars love to go with the “it’s the old people’s network” line of BS, but you don’t see FOX, ABC, or NBC building a dynasty of trusting, loyal viewers. When you look at the top 25 tv shows in America according to demographics, its CBS with the most shows by an overwhelming margin, not FOX, not ABC, and certainly not NBC. And when you look at the top 25 shows in America by total viewership, CBS leads that category by an even bigger margin.
But getting back to the pilot orders for 2013, CBS has so many fantastic pilot orders I can’t see them not blowing the other networks out of the water in the Fall. Not that they needed a bundle of hits but their list of solid dramas with strong male leads as well as female leads is at least “6″ the last time I counted. And they have almost as many strong comedies on the horizon with big comedic talents slated as leads in all of them. And let me conclude with this. Has anyone seen the list of pure shit ABC is looking at bringing in next fall? FOX and NBC’s pilot orders aren’t much better but ABC’s pilot order chest looks like a bunch of who-shot-John bullshit. Drama pilots that play like a Lifetime channel movie of the week and DOA comedy pilots. I’d invite anyone to take a look at the pilots and not see where ABC is headed- 6th place out of five networks.
As much as I’d like to see them expand Thursdays to a four comedy block, I don’t see that happening. They would need to launch three fall comedies because I doubt Rules comes back. Mom is the no brained but I think investing in Robin Williams will pay off big time.
My thought is that if CEO Moonves is drastically lowering the number of new series pickups for next season, because 1) it could further perpetuate the notion the Eye Network is “solid” in the ratings (though, in reality, down in adults 18-49 and flat in adults 25-54 this season); 2) keeps long-in-the-tooth, white-dominant series like “2.5 Men” for yet another full-season and the rest of sked looks “stable” and stays largely in place; 3) it gives him and Nina’s Eye development team a better “pick of the litter” in terms of pilots that got an order (though we know “the procedural crime drama/caucasian-led ensemble cookie-cutter machine” rolls on with “NCIS 3″ and “HIMYM” spinoffs; and 4) Moonves is banking on the fewer number of SERIES ORDERS to either cut or maintain overhead costs at the Eye Network while continuing to substantiate and possibly bolster his “media industry-leading” $60 million-plus in salary and bonuses annually. Just my two cents here on the “Les is More” strategic positioning for his “Auto-Hopper besieged” advertiser-supported business model.
Mr. Moonves,
You may run CBS as you please,just DO NOT MESS WITH THE GOOD WIFE! That show is amazing!!!
Les is a relic , and he is
Making a huge mistake. By
axing CSI NY! It is way better
Than CSI 1 or the Good Wife!
So is an idiot to get rid of
One of the best dramas on TV!
I think they should take criminal minds and csi off and bring back csi New
sorry to here vegas has been dropped by cbs it is one of the shows i enjoy not to many left
I am just prepared to be disappointed by CBS’s fall schedule. The remaining likely pickups sound totally boring, and they dropped Vegas and CSI:NY for this? The least they could do is pick up something edgy like Jason Lee or Skeet Ulrich’s new pilots. At least Intelligence looks like it will be watchable, even if the other likely drama pickups at the network don’t appear to be.