CBS President and CEO Les Moonves
So what does the man who green-lit “Survivor” have to say about the prospects for his network and its third-rated “Evening News”? What about CBS’s plans for its Web presence? Will there be an Internet-based comeback?
- 9:40 a.m.: Moonves begins by discussing the recent CBS season preview for advertisers at Carnegie Hall: “You tell them why CBS is best; you show them clips. … Your ad staff then goes to work.” At the end of the day, Moonves says, “75% of the ad budget is locked in.” And then, the negotiations begin.
- On programming: “People are not just looking to buy ‘CSI,’ but on all our partnerships as well, things that are online related to ‘CSI’ as well.” He mentions that CBS’s integrated-marketing plan includes the Web. Still, he says, the bulk of ad dollars come from the network, adding that “CSI” gets 25 million viewers every Thursday night. That said, Moonves adds: “We realize that if we live in a world that depends totally on CBS.com, we’d be dead. Which is why we’ve begun reaching out [to an] interactive audience.”
- 9:45 a.m.: Walt asks if Moonves foresees a time in the next few years when someone will create a series on the Internet that draws enough of a critical mass of viewers that it becomes a hit. Moonves replies: “Clearly, the Web cannot be used as a storehouse of regurgitated content. We understand that, and so we hired a bunch of kids right out of film school. We gave them a bit of money and asked them to create some Web-based series. And some day one of them will catch on.”
- On CBS’s syndication approach: “We have CBS.com, we have our stuff on iTunes. We feel the wave of the future is getting as much distribution as we can. We feel that we should be nonexclusive and get our content out there.”
- 9:50 a.m.: Moonves: “We’re offering a selection of shows and also the ability to slice up our shows. I love it when people take 25 clips of David Caruso taking his sunglasses off in ‘CSI: Miami’ and string them together. There’s great promotional value in that. It’s only a positive for our company.”
- What’s the CBS brand? Walt asks. Moonves says the network’s shows are its brands, the networks are not. “Our business is about putting the best shows we can on our network. We like to think of ourselves in a certain way, of putting on a certain kind of show, but if I could, I’d pluck shows from other networks.”
- 9:55 a.m.: Moonves says it’s still important to CBS to have an evening news presence, it just needs to evolve. “It needs to remember that people are already informed of the news events of the day when they arrive home,” he points out. CBS’s job is to add to what they know, to continue the stories.
- 10 a.m.: Walt: “How do you consume media?”
Moonves: “I read the papers, I surf the Web. At the beginning of the year, I try to see at least two episodes of every show on our network. Am I surfing? All the time. I’m aware of the landscape. I’m a competitor, so I have to know whom I’m competing with.” - 10:10 a.m.: In response to the question of whether there’s a creative way to do ads on Web video, Moonves says that there must be, adding that he doesn’t yet know what it will look like. Walt notes that ads in Web videos typically annoy the hell out of viewers, and wonders about the future of product placement.
- 10:15 a.m.: On to the Q&A:
- On out-of-home advertising: “CBS is the largest out-of-home advertising company in the U.S.” Moonves says it’s a “fabulous” business that they’re eager to continue to develop, particularly with investment in the digital realm. He mentions the CBS Outdoors billboard near the San Francisco Bay Bridge, which has been controversial with many there.
- 10:20 a.m.: On “Jericho”: Moonves admits to filtering emails from “Jericho” fans outraged by the show’s cancellation. Walt: “Why listen to your viewers, right?”
- Another question, why not just continue to produce the show and move it online?
- 10:25 a.m.: On the impact of media consolidation on content: “Content today is as great as it’s ever been. This is another golden age of television.”
- Will a company like CBS ever be comfortable allowing companies like Microsoft and Google to become intermediaries in their advertising sales process? Moonves says it already is. It likes a direct relationship with its advertisers, but it’s willing to experiment.
More coverage at The Wall Street Journal.
Correction: An earlier version of this post erroneously referred to CBS as “third-rated” among networks, when in fact it has dominated the No. 1 ranking, according to Nielsen. Only the “CBS Evening News” ranks third among network news broadcasts.
Comments
Les is in for a lot more than he realizes. Jericho is not done. He just refused to really acknowledge the full power of the movement upon him.
Oh yes, I was very disappointed at where the video ended.
Posted by Paula Hawk at May 30th, 2007 at 3:51 pmthat’s right,les, why listen to your viewers? One good reason - we support you by supporting your advertisers - and this will stop unless something positive is done about Jericho.
Posted by jeanne clarke at May 30th, 2007 at 3:53 pmWell I would like to inform everyone that we just arent sendin nuts and letters and calls. We have know had a donation site at http://www.nutsonline.com to collect funds that go 100% to Greensburg, KS. To assist in the rebuilding after a tornado destroyed over 90% of the town. Jericho is the reason why we have already raised over $5,000.00 to o straight to them. Jericho showed us humanity and all should watch it so we can all see how we can work together and be a family. We aren’t just taking money either. Percentages of money raised towards nuts is going and also items that support “save Jericho” shirts that are at the site also has $5 go to donation fund. We aren’t just sending nuts. We are helpin people that need it. So CBS step up and make it to where more people can see Jericho and learn about the humanity that is within themselves.
Posted by Stephanie Page at May 30th, 2007 at 4:12 pmJust watched the video, first off and I hope this website looks at this, PLEASE post the rest of the video about Jericho, its so important to so many people.
Posted by John Hitchcock at May 30th, 2007 at 4:59 pm2. Just like CD sales are dropping drastically, CBS is going to loose viewership very quickly if it does not correct this problem. Advertisers watching this promotion will BEAT DOWN THEIR DOORS to advertise on Jericho should it come back. Good shows do that. I bet they don’t present Superbowl at their advertiser conventions. LES - WAKE UP…….
More thoughts….Maybe NBC or ABC should hire all the actors and writers and start a new Series “Hawkins Revenge” or something similar, we know the starting point. Seriously we’ve all be nice so far to CBS (at least I have). This could be very damaging to them to continue as they are. I just turned off my TV because Jericho should be on right now, not KOQ.
Posted by John Hitchcock at May 30th, 2007 at 5:01 pmHey Thanks Walt… Thanks for showing Moonves as he truly is… an ‘Old Media’ type trying to learn the ‘New Media’ concepts!
Les Moonves is a visionary of sorts in that he is guiding CBS towards the internet — a multi-platform world of TV, Internet, mobile, and videogaming. As he states “Our mission is to uniquely entwine these four elements around a primary source of our content in ways that feed each of those media, and build on the most important part of what we do, and that, my friends, is bring people together.” Like he did with Jericho? Guess not!?!
A ‘phenomenon’, you asked Walt? Moonves replied, “…BTW there will be a day and it won’t be that far in the future where one of these series will catch on you’ll hear about it all over the place and people will be looking at these shows and it will be millions and millions of people who are watching it every week”
Jericho was destined to be that ‘phenomenon’, but CBS doesn’t know how to recognize it. In the past week alone on CBS’ Jericho Message Board, on a single topic, there have been 4,194 threads, with over 50,000 messages and 1.6 MILLION views… in just ONE WEEK! Steadily in the top 5 on iTunes and innerTube, for video d/l too. Phenomenon?
There was one Jericho thread that had more total activity than many of CBS’s other Show Boards combined! Yet CBS has decided to cancel the show? Why?
The ‘mortality’ of Jericho IMO is the direct result of CBS/Moonves being ‘old-school’ and not understanding the infancy of the multi-platform media concepts, which are still developing…
This ‘mortality’ seems to have been caused by a number of factors, not the least of which was a 12 week mid-season hiatus (all similar show lost numbers, btw) followed by placing it up against the mega-hit American Idol. Yet the show numbers dropped only about 20% pre/post hiatus, and remained very steady in the second half. I don’t know what Moonves means when he says “I wish we had seen some of that passion as the ratings were going down in the last two months.” I think CBS (and Moonves) can’t see the forest for the trees? Wake up and smell the coffee Les!
The video ends with Moonves stating “there has been an unbelieveable amount of attention” Well Walt… I’ve just got one comment for Les… “NUTS! — You ain’t seen nothing yet”
SAVE JERICHO
Posted by John Hawkins at May 30th, 2007 at 5:59 pmIt was pretty disgusting to see that video. Les seems determined to ignore a very large, passionate segment of the viewership that is saying, loudly and clearly, “This is what we want to watch! We want a second season of Jericho.” We were there to watch it in the first place. They just didn’t count us into their statistics since we watched the show online via Innertube or after taping it on DVR or TiVO. Justifying decisions using the Nielson ratings is like getting your information via telegraph in the era of the internet.
Still Les clings to justifications for cancelling Jericho like “it started out strong and lost viewers.” That argument has been thoroughly debunked by now. Of course it dropped a bit. It got yanked off the air and on hiatus in an illogical fashion. Then it was on opposite American Idol. But then since they ignored online viewers and those who recorded and watched they can ignore the fact that ratings didn’t drop nearly as much as they say they did.
A large segment of viewers are saying “We want season two of Jericho!”. If Les Moonves and CBS want to ignore the viewers there are a large number of viewers that will ignore CBS.
Jeremy
Wilmington, NC
Posted by Jeremy McCollum at May 30th, 2007 at 6:23 pmWith all due respect to Les, the fans have an incredible amount of passion for Jericho, this was never the problem.
The writing quality is excellent, the story line makes you think, the acting is wonderful. CBS should have treated the show better by not giving it a 2 month hiatus and then returning it against American Idol. This is not the show’s fault, nor the fans.
Jericho fans are loyal and not only that, but we have more than a 1-track mind.
The caring and awesome people at http://www.nutsonline.com have provided a mechanism for those who support Jericho, to support Greensburg, Kansas’ rebuilding efforts after 95% of the town was destroyed by a tornado.
If you are reading this, put aside your views about whether you like Jericho or not and please contribute to the Greensburg Rebuilding Fund through the contribution section found at http://www.nutsonline.com/jericho
In fact, an open statement to CBS, put aside our differences on Jericho for 10 minutes and please contribute to this fund.
Kudos to Jeff and the gang at NutsOnline for being more than just an online nut retailer
Posted by Trevor Kay at May 30th, 2007 at 6:48 pmJust a quick add on to my prior post. If you are donating large sums to the Greensburg Rebuilding Fund, NutsOnline.com asks you to contact the City Administrator directly. Please read http://www.nutsonline.com/jericho-greensburg.html
Posted by Trevor Kay at May 30th, 2007 at 6:55 pmThis interview shows just how out of touch Mr. Moonves is with his own companies operations.
He claims to be digital savvy, claims to be an advocate of digital content, however balks in the face of a show that had MASSIVE amounts of digital content support, but was still cancelled because of “poor ratings”.
Wake up Mr. Moonves. The methods of tracking television ratings (Nielson Box) needs to be changed in the face of new technologies. If CBS ever wishes to seamlessly integrate television and digital content, and become an industry leader, it’s going to require taking some steps into the unknown. Take your chance with Jericho.
This is your wake-up call Mr. Moonves… good morning.
Posted by Ben Light at May 30th, 2007 at 8:49 pmInteresting that he said he gets all his news from newspapers every morning, 3 of them daily, yet he spends several hours a day on the net. Wonder what he’s doing? I doubt he’s watching Katie Couric.
New Wednesday Schedule
Posted by John Hitchcock at May 30th, 2007 at 11:02 pm5:30 Local News
6:00 Local News
6:30 CBS Evening News w/Geo Bush
7:00 CBS Weather w/Al Gore
7:30 Some awful Entertainment show TBA
8:00 JERICHO episode #23, Train Wreck w/Les Moonves asleep at the switch. (Hawkins Awakens Him)
9:00 2 hour CBS SPECIAL - 3rd Generation RERUN’s of King of Queens.
11:00 Thankfully Local News
11:30 Late show w/Paris Hilton
12:00 After Hours Club LIVE w/Ted Kennedy
Cbs cares? Obviously not. Right out of his own mouth….. they don’t care enough to listen to their own viewers and fan base. If I ran my business like that…. I would be out of business.
They blame low ratings for the cancelation of Jericho. How do they explain then, that even at its lowest viewership….. it had sometimes double of other cbs shows. Yet those shows are still renewed. Jericho is not. These numbers are right from the rating system itself. And that doesn’t take into account the 450,000+ viewers who watched it online everyweek on cbs’ online network. It doesn’t account for the dvr, tivo, vcr, or other recorders. It doesn’t count the people who download from i-tunes, xbox 360, or other download programs. Another note: Jericho is one of the most popular among those download programs.
It discusts me to see ratings being used for an excuse, yet the rating providers prove that the ratings were higher than many other renewed shows. Where is the justification in that?
How does CBS explain the fact that their jericho online website, their forums, and the innertube network have more activity in 1 forum thread then most of the other cbs forums combined?
CBS needs to wake up. They have created a monster by creating this online community. Then they punish people for using it. Now cbs needs to deal with that monster. And we are not going away.
CBS can not buy the kind of publicity that is going on right now. They can take a risk with new shows that even the press is saying that no one wants ( kid nation for example )…. or CBS can have a show with a 11 million viewer ( at least ) fan base. Plus all the new viewers that this attention has brought in. Why risk the money on shows that even the press is calling child exploitation? Here is a show with a highly devoted fan base. All who are Ready, willing, and able to support CBS, their sponsors, and the Jericho show.
CBS will lose money and viewers by not renewing this show for a whole season or a mid season replacement. They will continue to lose money and viewers if they persist with shows like Kid nation and other junk.
The smart thing…. the less risky option… is to renew Jericho. Any good businessman can see that. They press is shouting it out. They viewers are shouting it out. The stars are shouting it out. Yet CBS has its fingers in their ears and email filters to block it from their eyes.
CBS cares? LES just spoke it from his own mouth….. that they don’t.
Why should anyone trust CBS not to do the same thing to any show this fall that they did to Jericho? Why should the viewers watch and invest any of their time with CBS programs when they can’t trust that their time won’t be wasted? Why should anyone trust CBS at all? When LES so boldly proclaimed….. they filter out their viewers. They don’t listen to them. They don’t care about what they say or think or feel.
CBS works for the viewers. Not the other way around. We can very easily take our time, our money, and our support elsewhere. Someplace that DOES listen to their viewers.
CBS needs to renew Jericho and right their wrong. Or else they will lose a great deal of their precious 18-49 year old demographic. Can CBS afford to keep losing 11 million plus fans?
Posted by Renee Lamarque at May 31st, 2007 at 1:16 amI think this speaks to the exact reason CBS erroneously perceives Jericho as a “ratings failure.” Not only is that incorrect from a strictly traditional Nielsen perspective (although Jericho’s ratings dropped after the long mid-season hiatus, as did all shows who had a long mid-season hiatus, the ratings remained steady for all the spring episodes), the new platforms of DVRs and online episode access are being woefully discounted by CBS. If those new platforms were properly taken into account, the ratings for Jericho were actually very healthy and remained steady. It’s clear at this point that Jericho certainly has a large, devoted fan base, and they tuned in regularly. Moreover, CBS seems to be under the impression that Jericho appeals only to a conservative audience. In actuality, many viewers, including myself, would not label themselves conservatives–in fact, many of my fellow Jericho fans actually lean left. The genius of the show is that it doesn’t matter what your political leanings are–Jericho appeals equally to liberals and conservatives because it’s about people, not politics, and the viewers can stamp their own impressions on the characters and make them their own. Jericho is a show about people banding together in the face of incredible obstacles. It’s a wonderful, uplifting show that speaks to a broad range of people. It’s not the dreary, depressing “post-apocalyptic drama” many have made it out to be. It’s truly a shame that CBS seems so willing to throw a gem like this away. This is the type of wide appeal advertisers would kill for. Unfortunately, the show has not been promoted properly. It’s barely been promoted at all.
Posted by Sophia Pena-Garza at May 31st, 2007 at 9:32 amMy wife and I were big Jericho fans. It was nice to have a new drama the we could both enjoy, and it was a break from the annoying grind of reality TV that we are bombarded with by the networks. I am really sorry to see it go and I am actively boycotting all CBS programming. It was a shame CBS had to slap it fans in the face in such a manner, and that slap will not be soon forgotten. Most of the shows I watch are on CBS, but I am giving them up and exploring other networks and cable channels.
Posted by Alex Biro at May 31st, 2007 at 9:44 amFirst off I would like to thank you for the attention and time that you have given to our cause. Second I would like to say; When CBS first started running the commercials for it’s upcoming new show Jericho they peeked the interest of Millions of viewers, and when the show started its run it was one of the highest rated premiers in the history of television, and it stayed that way until CBS pulled it for their winter hiatus.(Their first mistake.) It would have been in their best interest to rerun it so the viewership didn’t drop off. When they resumed the new episodes, they did not promote it half as good as they did when it was first airing (I found out about the return from the web site, not from the television)(Mistake number two). Then they put it on opposite the number one rated show on for that time slot.(Mistake number three.) I am by no means an expert when it comes to scheduling things, (and you can ask my wife if you need proof!) but even I can see that the people in charge of scheduling at CBS dropped the ball on this one. Even with that, going head to head with Fox for that time slot, Jericho was able to hold over 8 million viewers and also hold the second place time slot, which alone should have been enough to tell CBS that Jericho was a winner. People, wake up and smell the coffee(or in this case roasted nuts). Everybody makes mistakes, we’re human, but it takes a real person to admit they messed up and fix it. Thank you for letting me voice my opinion
Posted by Joseph Mornhineway at May 31st, 2007 at 9:49 amI really hate that networks have not come up w/a better way to judge viewers than ‘nielsen’ ratings, especially sense they w/o fail never reflect I or my family’s viewing habits.
I also hate that they have artificial ’sweeps’ periods and they place a hold on key programs like jericho or lost and wait and air them then leaving viewers in a lurch while their program goes on hiatus.
i would prefer shorter seasons like rescue me or sopranos that were aired w/o a hiatus break.
CBS has dumbed themselves down too much for my family.
we don’t watch amazing race, survivor and we won’t be watching kid nation.
as far as crime dramas go the csi shows are good but i don’t want to invest my time in them only to have cbs drop the show.
my whole family enjoyed jericho.
my 79 father was was in ems for 30 years loved the show. My wofe and her family all loved it. in dropping the show, CBS dropped us.
So i’m calling, writing and sending nuts. the bring jericho back they’ve got a loyal viewing family, they don’t - well they’re over 200 channels to choose from at our house, we don’t need CBS.
I hope they reconsider and bring the show back.
thanks for calling attention to the situation.
Posted by james towe at May 31st, 2007 at 9:55 amI agree with others posting that it is a shame where this video cuts off. There is little I can say that is not echoing what has already been said. Jericho was the best show I have I seen in at least 5 years - the most unique and pertinent storyline, fabulous writing, great acting. The discussions it created at home, on the message boards and elsewhere were like no other show I have ever watched. And I, like so many other viewers never watched it on TV - I am out every Wednesday night. But I watched it loyally and repeatedly on CBS.com. Web-Ads may be annoying, but I have the jingles of the advertisers: Cingular/ATT, Chase Bank, Sears, Allstate Insurance permanently ingrained in my head because I listened to them through ear phones over and over again. I use the mute during commercials when I watch TV. Do the advertisers know this? Where is my vote in Jericho’s Nielson Ratings which dropped only few percent, and only after the hiatus and being placed opposite a mindless and unfortunately popular reality show which I don’t care to mention. I am so sorry to hear that Mr. Moonves is giving up on quality TV. Where are the educated well-paid professionals like myself going to turn for entertainment?…It won’t be CBS.
Posted by Alison Macdonald at May 31st, 2007 at 10:14 amI’m stunned that Mr. Moonves would blame the Jericho cancellation on low ratings. Is this the same Mr. Moonves who has repeatedly touted that he had the leading network when it comes to technology and the internet? Was CBS not one of the pioneers of network broadcasts online through Innertube? I guess I was fooled. Many of us were watching Jericho online or through our DVR/Tivo (which by the way CBS has just added a click-ad for on their boards - very interesting move). We were not counted. In my affiliate area, the ratings for Fall were 3.7 share; the ratings for May were 4.3 share - this is Los Angeles, a very large market. How does Mr. Moonves consider that a ratings drop? When CBS made the decision to take Jericho away from my family, I realized that CBS was not a family-friendly network. Jericho was the 21st century Little House on the Prairie. Good thing Mr. Moonves wasn’t around to cancel out Michael Landon. CBS is also showing that they are not a quality program network. How many CSI’s, autopsy, murder, and reality shows can one network hold before the public finally screams “I’M MAD AS HELL AND I’M NOT GOING TO TAKE IT ANY MORE!” I think we, Mr. and Mrs. Joe Public and family, deserve Jericho back.
Posted by Trish Jacobs at May 31st, 2007 at 10:46 amThank you for highlighting the disconnect between CBS, its strategy, and the fans who adopted that strategy. NUTS to CBS!
Posted by Greg Plourde at May 31st, 2007 at 10:53 amTo the Fans of Jericho:
Wow!
Over the past few weeks you have put forth an impressive and probably unprecedented display of passion in support of a prime time television series. You got our attention; your emails and collective voice have been heard.
As a result, CBS has ordered seven episodes of “Jericho” for mid-season next year. In success, there is the potential for more. But, for there to be more “Jericho,” we will need more viewers.
A loyal and passionate community has clearly formed around the show. But that community needs to grow. It needs to grow on the CBS Television Network, as well as on the many digital platforms where we make the show available.
We will count on you to rally around the show, to recruit new viewers with the same grass-roots energy, intensity and volume you have displayed in recent weeks.
At this time, I cannot tell you the specific date or time period that “Jericho” will return to our schedule. However, in the interim, we are working on several initiatives to help introduce the show to new audiences. This includes re-broadcasting “Jericho” on CBS this summer, streaming episodes and clips from these episodes across the CBS Audience Network (online), releasing the first season DVD on September 25 and continuing the story of Jericho in the digital world until the new episodes return. We will let you know specifics when we have them so you can pass them on.
On behalf of everyone at CBS, thank you for expressing your support of “Jericho” in such an extraordinary manner. Your protest was creative, sustained and very thoughtful and respectful in tone. You made a difference.
Sincerely,
Nina Tassler
President, CBS Entertainment
P.S. Please stop sending us nuts
Posted by jer icho at June 6th, 2007 at 3:09 pmThird place? Uh….
First place in households and if you factor out AI, first place in the key demos as well.
Posted by Mitch Cardwell at June 13th, 2007 at 8:57 am