CBS Takes Down 'Gone Fishing' Sign (Excerpt)

Mediaweek - July 24, 2000
By Marc Berman

... In the executive session, Les Moonves, president and chief executive officer, and Nancy Tellem, president, CBS Entertainment, fielded questions from the audience. Considering this was a press tour geared to new fall programming, the key observation is that a good 95 percent of the questions at this CBS portion of the tour were targeted to Survivor and Big Brother.

"We took down the ‘gone fishing’ sign this summer," said Moonves. "Ignore everything I have said over the last several years. We are now also the network for adults 18-49, and winning a recent week in that coveted demographic is a dream come true. We are enjoying this fountain of youth." And while Moonves was happy to crow over the impact Survivor, in particular, has had on the network, he was also quick to remind the audience that shows like 60 Minutes, Touched by an Angel, Judging Amy and JAG are still the bread and butter of the network’s line-up.

"To be a programmer, you have to embrace all kinds of programming, and Survivor and Big Brother have enhanced our line-up without alienating our core audience, adults 25-54," noted the energetic Moonves. "The success of shows like Survivor and Millionaire prove that network television is still the best place to be."


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