CBS' Moonves: Scatter Strong, Shows Will Drop

Les-MoonvesEven with its strong ratings, CBS made the surprising decision to end “Without A Trace” several seasons back, partly due to heavy production costs and the chance to replace it with a younger show. Expect the network to make a similar decision for its schedule next fall.

“That will happen with at least one show this season,” CBS CEO Leslie Moonves said Wednesday.

He declined to cite any possibilities, although “CSI: Miami” or “CSI: NY” might be less surprising than the cancellation of “Without A Trace” (2009) or “Cold Case” (2010) was. 

Moonves, speaking at an investor event, cast aside any of the persistent questions that CBS is overly reliant on procedural crime dramas. From a business perspective that might be less of an issue now, since those shows can be very attractive in traditional and emerging online syndication platforms.   

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“They have a huge afterlife,” he said.

As far as the ad market for CBS, he said the scatter market pacing is stronger in the current quarter than at the end of last year. CBS has “no make goods” it must give advertisers.

On the potential of TV Everywhere or online distribution bringing in significantly extra ad dollars, he said that could accelerate once Nielsen has a system in place to capture all viewership, adding that Nielsen is “rapidly" getting there.

As for the potential of CBS purchasing the TV Guide Network or starting a cable network as a venue to offer more new and library programs, Moonves said that has been discussed, but the current TV Guide Network pricing remains too high.

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