CBS Television Network

Mondo Times editors    Boulder Colorado USA

Posted at 10:09am on Monday, February 8th, 2010

The Story Behind the Leno/Oprah/Letterman Super Bowl Ad

USA Today reported on February 8, 2010:

"The late-night TV skirmish continues: Jay Leno and David Letterman, who traded sharp barbs last month over NBC's late-night maneuvering, appeared on camera in a short promo for CBS' Late Show with David Letterman during Sunday's Super Bowl— with Oprah Winfrey as the referee.

The 15-second spot, a sequel to a similar commercial featuring Letterman and Winfrey that aired in 2007, opens as Letterman, munching on chips on a couch, decrees this "the worst Super Bowl party ever." The camera pans next to Winfrey, who admonishes "Now Dave, be nice!" and then to Leno, sitting on on the other side of Winfrey who says "Aw, he's just sayin' that because I'm here!" Letterman then mimics Leno's voice in repeating the phrase, then Winfrey throws up her hands in resignation.

"This was Dave's idea," says Late Show executive producer Rob Burnett of the super-secret promo shoot. "He wrote the script, then we called Oprah, who thankfully had a good enough time doing it the last time. She was in right away."

The next call went to CBS chief Leslie Moonves, "to make sure he was OK with Jay being on our network during the Super Bowl. He thought it was hilarious and said 'Go for it.' "

The full story:
http://www.usatoday.com/life/television/news/2010-02-07-leno-lettterman-oprah_N.htm

Mondo Times editors    Boulder Colorado USA

Posted at 10:05am on Thursday, February 4th, 2010

Letterman Show Adds Female Staff Writer

The New York Times reported on February 3, 2010:

"Ending what had been a somewhat embarrassing drought at the big late-night comedy shows, CBS’s “Late Show with David Letterman” has added a female writer to its staff.

She is Jill Goodwin, a longtime staff member on the show who was most recently the writers’ assistant for the writing team, a job that often leads to a promotion to a full-time writing position.

The writers’ rooms on several late-night shows — including Mr. Letterman’s, Jay Leno’s and the one for Conan O’Brien’s “Tonight Show” — were described as male enclaves in recent reports about the male dominance among comedy writers. At the time, all the shows noted that they had had women on writing teams in the past and were always seeking to add them.

For some time, Ms. Goodwin has been considered to be next in line for a writing job at “Late Show” as soon as there was an opening, a spokesman for the show said. She has been on the staff since 2001, having previously worked as an assistant to the executive producers."

The full story:
http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/02/03/letterman-show-adds-a-female-staff-writer

Mondo Times editors    Boulder Colorado USA

Posted at 10:16am on Monday, February 1st, 2010

VEVO, The Recording Academy(R) and CBS Partner for 'The GRAMMY(R)s' Music Video Channel

New York (February 1, 2010) -- VEVO, the new premium music video and entertainment service, The Recording Academy and CBS have announced the launch of "The GRAMMYs" channel, making noteworthy footage from 52 years of GRAMMY performances and GRAMMY-related programming available for free, on-demand viewing across the VEVO Network within the U.S. This new channel marks the first time The Recording Academy has made these archival performances available to the public.

"The GRAMMYs" channel will give fans access to select footage from the GRAMMY Award telecasts and Nomination specials including performances, presentations, interviews and other memorable moments through its 52 year history across the VEVO Network. Beyonce, Lady Gaga, John Mayer, No Doubt, Katy Perry, Shakira and Sugarland are just a few of the artists featured on "The GRAMMYs" channel. Additional content will be continually added into the channel.

Mondo Times editors    Boulder Colorado USA

Posted at 11:25am on Wednesday, January 27th, 2010

CBS is pushing its new Nancy Grace show, in hopes of securing a good first start.

The New York Times reported on January 25, 2010:

"CBS had to barter, literally, with television stations to secure time slots for its new syndicated show starring Nancy Grace, the tenacious former prosecutor.

That explains why Ms. Grace’s coming courtroom show, “Swift Justice,” is virtually alone in finding nearly complete distribution ahead of the annual syndication sales event here.

Two months ago Oprah Winfrey announced her exit plan from syndication, drastically reshaping the daytime TV business. CBS, which distributes “The Oprah Winfrey Show,” and other companies are eager to start new daytime franchises, with an eye toward filling the time slots to be vacated by Ms. Winfrey when she moves to cable next year.

But their partners, local television stations, are suffering. The recession exacerbated the challenges of the local advertising business, making stations less able, or at least less willing, to pay the license fees that companies like CBS have demanded in the past.

To ensure “Swift Justice” would find time slots across the country, CBS agreed to so-called barter arrangements, with the syndicator and stations each selling about half of the advertising time on the show. Well ahead of its fall premiere, “Swift Justice” has already signed up stations covering 90 percent of the country’s TV households."

The full story:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/26/business/media/26grace.html