CBS to Air Dexter; Renew Big Bang, Moonlight
John Consoli
December 04, 2007
Look for CBS to begin airing sister pay cable network Showtime
hit drama Dexter sometime in midseason if the Writers Strike is
prolonged, and for the broadcast network to bring back freshman
sitcom The Big Bang Theory and first-year drama Moonlight next
season.
Speaking at the 35th annual UBS Global Media & Communications
Conference in New York today (Dec. 4), Les Moonves, CBS Corp. president & CEO,
mentioned the two freshman shows as likely to return next season,
and that CBS would be looking to air some Showtime shows to supplement
its schedule should the Writers Guild strike continue and effect
the return of first-run shows on the network.
After the session, he said the most likely Showtime show that
CBS would air would be Dexter, although he said the show about
a serial
killer who works for the police, would have to be edited to be
more palatable to the broader audience on CBS.
In a plug for Showtime, Moonves told financial analysts in the
audience that “the quality of Showtime, show for show, is
as good as any network on broadcast or cable,” pointing out
that Showtime signed up one million new subscribers over the past
year. “And,” he added, “Showtime just had its
best year financially, ever.”
During his session, Moonves touched on a number of topics related
to various aspects of the CBS Corp. businesses. “Basically,
we are look for [financial] growth in just about every segment
of our company [in 2008],” he said, adding, without being
specific, “that there are some acquisitions out there that
might help us grow.”
He did say that CBS Corp. is looking at acquiring foreign production
partners and had looked at reality show producer Endemol. Moonves
said about 10 percent of the company’s earnings right now
come from international business, and he said the goal is to grow
that. In particular, he said, CBS Corp. would be looking to enter
in production deals with companies in Europe and Asia where it
could produce content for local consumption there.
Commenting on CBS Radio, Moonves said, “We are looking forward
to seeing our radio operation be in the black in 2008.” He
cited format changes to WCBS radio in New York that resulted in
increased ratings and sales this year, and said similar changes
might be occurring in other markets in 2008.
He also said the radio stations would be doing a better job of
selling political advertising during the 2008 presidential and
congressional elections than they have done in the past.
Moonves said he is expecting the new CBS Films unit to have its
first movie ready by February 2009 and to produce 4 to 6 movies
a year that will run either on CBS, Showtime or be sold to other
networks.
Much like NBCU president & CEO Jeff Zucker said at the UBS
conference yesterday, Moonves said CBS is also still trying to
figure out a digital/online strategy that will help monetize its
content. “We have to make sure the Internet is not just used
for regurgitated television shows,” he said. But he added
that “every single part of our business is being tied into
the Internet.”
Moonves said CBS Corp. is “always looking for any opportunities
to buy content companies—anything that fits.”
Asked about the continued ratings struggles of the CBS Evening
News with Katie Couric, Moonves again defended the network’s
attempt to try to reach a younger nightly news audience with Couric
as anchor. “I am concerned that the average watcher of the
evening news is 61 [years old],” he said, contending that
most of the viewer defections from the CBS Evening News “were
60 and older men.” That, he said, “is not the demographic
we want. We want to get younger. I wish more younger people were
watching the [network evening] news, but it doesn’t look
like it’s happening.”
Moonves said ratings shortfalls at the Evening News are being offset
by gains on The Early Show and on 60 Minutes on Sundays in prime
time.
“
I hope more people will watch Katie but it hasn’t happened
yet,” he said.
Regarding the Writers Guild strike, Moonves said he is “hopeful
but not terribly optimistic” that it would be settled quickly.
He said CBS wants to “share the pie” with the writers
of Internet revenue generated by streaming of the network’s
shows, but added that “’we’re not sure what that
pie will be.”
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