This year, according to CBS Entertainment Chairman Nina Tassler, is a “seminal year” for the network, not only with a whole new late-night lineup but also with the farewell season of CSI and the anticipated arrival of Supergirl.
“We have a very big year at CBS,” said Tassler, addressing the TCA crowd Monday morning.
The five freshman series this fall, she says, all represent different views of CBS. She calls Code Black a show with “the urgency of ER,” Angel From Hell an “offbeat quirky script” and with Supergirl, “she had us at hello.”
This year’s crop of new shows has a lot to live up to, as well. According to Tassler, CBS has more viewers today than 11 years ago - quite a big boast for any broadcast network today.
Each new show will launch amid Thursday Night Football with an established show as its lead-in this fall, a tried-and-true format for CBS. The series are also rolling out in two phases, said Tassler, with premiere week Sept. 21 launching the first of its shows, with Supergirl and Angel From Hell to follow Oct. 26 and Nov. 5, respectively.
Tassler also touted the environment of late-night on CBS this year, introducing two new hosts within 2015.
“It’s a seminal year in late-night at CBS,” said Tassler. “Launching a new 11:30 show at CBS is a once-in-a-generation moment and Stephen Colbert is a once-in-a-generation talent. With Stephen Colbert and James Corden, we think the future here looks very bright.”
Corden plans on bringing his Late Late Show to Santa Monica this fall for a full show shot at YouTube Space LA.
“Our two new hosts enjoy playing in the digital space,” said Tassler. “We continue to embrace change and all the opportunities that come with it.”
She added that for the first time at CBS, the network will own and produce both of its late-night shows, a very important focus at CBS and its competitors now.
With a quickly changing TV industry, Tassler also said that with so many more platforms and outlets for find shows, CBS is paying more attention to monetizing content across everything.
“As part of this new landscape we are analyzing our shows somewhat differently,” said Tassler. “There are so many different ways to measure a program’s appeal that go beyond the overnights in the demos.”
As CBS is one of the networks surviving the cord-cutting generation, the statement is only slightly surprising as even the biggest broadcast players accept the changing models of television. But, as Tassler said, CBS’ “customers are also our competitors,” with Fox also producing several of its shows and Netflix buying up many previous seasons of CBS series.
“The bottom line here is really simple – we want to be wherever people want to watch,” she said. “We’re all part of one big content universe. We’re all content creators and buyers and sellers.”
And in the end, it’s really all about the programming. Viewers will watch on any platform if a network gives them the show they want, according to Tassler.
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