CBS' Nina Tassler Puts the New Media Universe in Perspective - Ed Martin

Beverly Hills, CA – For as long as I can remember, the only audience that counted, at least among network executives and their advertisers, was adults 18-49. CBS has been the lone challenger during that time, arguing – with its words sometimes falling on deaf ears – that adults 25-54 and, in fact, all viewers were also important, and that a network targeting them could indeed be profitable.

But with the television business expanding and being redefined at an accelerating pace, changing not only the way it does business but the way the businesses with which it does business do business, it was time for CBS to finally put the demographic conversation in an entirely new context.

Responding to a reminder by a reporter during her recent session at the Summer 2014 Television Critics Association tour that CBS had lost ground this past season with adults 18-49, and asked if that was a concern, CBS Entertainment Chairman Nina Tassler put the new media order in immediate perspective, at least for the benefit of the press.

"If we're only going to talk about 18-49, I might as well just get up off my chair and turn my television manually," she declared. "It can only be a part of the story. It's a much bigger playing field. There are many more metrics. There are many more standards by which we are measured. So the definition of success is changing. It's evolving. And I think 18-49 is literally just a part of the conversation."

Earlier in her session, Tassler had noted that "new services such as Netflix and Amazon have expanded our syndication market with their high demand for programming. These platforms aren't replacing each other," she asserted. "They're complementing one another and enhancing the value of the content as it moves from window to window. I think Elementary is one of the best dramas on television and Jonny Lee Miller's portrayal [of] Sherlock Holmes is Emmy worthy. Many people look at Elementary and only see a Live+Same Day audience of 9 million viewers on CBS. We look at Elementary and see a big audience that grows to nearly 14 million when you add in seven-day viewing on DVR, VOD and online viewing, plus a healthy demo boost, too. The audience across all these platforms has built an important program asset for our company that's led to a huge syndication deal with Hulu and WGN.

"The growing truth is that picking winners today isn't as simple as looking at the overnight ratings," Tassler continued. That reality also applies to shows that may be known more for the size of their audience than their demographic strengths. "Today's television marketplace is rewarding programs that build big total audiences," she said. "Look no further than NCIS. It's the most watched drama on television. It has nearly 19 million Facebook fans and was recently named the most watched show in the world.

"Our competitors may call it old skewing. We call it a billion dollar franchise."

The network business has changed in other ways too, Tassler, reminded the room. For example, it is no longer focused entirely on the traditional broadcast season, which begins in September and ends in May. "We look at our primetime schedule on a year round basis," she said. "The term 'midseason' has been retired, and we program throughout the summer. Event series like [summer shows] Under the Dome and Extant are both supported by licensing deals with Amazon and international revenue that makes [them] profitable from the first episode. Dome was the No. 1 show last summer, a big hit internationally, and the No. 1 show on Amazon, too. Last week the premiere of Extant was the most watched show on television and opened to record streaming levels for Amazon in the U.K. It's a model that's a great business for CBS and delivers more original programming for the audience."

The value of certain series, whether they are shows identified as "older skewing" that generate giant profits or shows that don't appear to do well in the overnight ratings but are actually very successful in the long-term, weren't the only new realities that the press has had trouble embracing during this tour. Many reporters here still filter all of their observations and assessments through what they see the networks doing in the fall or at midseason. That led to an observation by one journalist that, in her estimation, and with ABC's new shows fresh in her mind, CBS does not have a single show on its fall schedule that has "a non-white person as the sole lead."

Groused the reporter, "That's a level of diversity that seems kind of shocking." Then she asked, "Are you worried about being left behind by these other networks that are clearly stepping up and doing more withdiversity?"

Once again, Tassler steered the conversation toward year-round programming. "We have one of the biggest stars in the entire universe featured in one of our shows this summer," she replied, referring to Halle Berry in Extant. "We don't look at fall as the defining mark of giving us our diversity quota. We look at the entire year. And if we don't have as diverse casts as we would like to going into the season, we see where we can add. It is a goal of ours; it is a part of the conversation, not just in front of the camera but behind the camera, in the writers' rooms, in the director's program, [with] employees bringing in new voices to work at the network."

The reporter was not appeased. "Extant is a good example," she said. "You have Halle Berry as a star … but there's no other supporting character who's a person of color. They're all white. Even the artificial son that was created for her is a white character. [In the futuristic series, Berry is the mother of a "robotic" or "robot" son.] If you're doing all of this about diversity, why are we not seeing it in the casting, why are we not seeing [more diversity] in the shows?"

Tassler reiterated that Berry is a lead, as is Lucy Liu on Elementary and Maggie Q on the upcoming thriller drama Stalker. "There is diversity across the ensemble [shows] as well," she said.

Earlier, there had been a similar question about diversity (or lack thereof) in CBS' comedies. Tassler referred back to that as she continued with her answer. "The strength of comedy sometimes is based on writers writing from their own personal stories and their own personal points of view," she continued. "We have a [comedy] called The McCarthys coming out. It's based on [creator and executive producer] Brian Gallivan's life. One of the lead characters is gay, and this is his story and this is his family. So we have a creative obligation to support his vision and tell his story. That character happens to be a young gay man. So the reality is we have to look at making the best choices, hiring the best actors, and if we don't get the level of diversity we're happy with going into the fall, we look for every opportunity through the course of the entire year to add it."