Jeff Shell on the future of the cancellation of CBS and CBS and the end of the show ‘
The Acquisition by Skydance of Paramount Global presented the old CEO of NBCUNIVERIVERSAL, Jeff Shell, in charge of a diffusion network. As president of the new paramount merger, he oversees the daily operations of the conglomerate media companies, including CBS.
Just before leaving the NBCU in April 2023, Shell had actively explored the release of NBC of 10 hours, the part of the prime time most affected by the vision habits of the people who migrated them to the streaming in large numbers during this period.
Since Shell was a supporter of NBC abandoning 10 am, there had been speculation that he might want to do the same with CBS once he will officially become the primordial president.
During a Los Angeles press event on Wednesday with the best leaders of Paramount, Deadline questioned Shell on her plans for the 22 hours of CBS, as we did during the last NBCU press event before his departure.
“Same question, a different answer,” said Shell, noting that 22 hours of CBS is “healthier”.
Admitting the challenges that the distribution networks face at 10 p.m., he noted that the programs planned by the hour are judged on how they operate both on the linear and streaming network, adding that the 22 -hour CBS dramas are well in the two departments, so cutting the time is not on the table at this time.
Blue Bloods is an excellent example of a CBS drama that prospered in this time slots for its 14 seasons race, something that CBS seeks to reproduce with the next design Boston Bluescheduled for the same Friday 10 a.m. Comic criminal drama Elsbeth, Who currently occupies on Thursday at 10 p.m., was among the best CBS multiplatform artists.
“The 22 -hour dramas are of good deals for CBS from a performance and P&L point of view, as well as the value they bring to Paramount +,” said George Cheeks, who continues to supervise CBS as president of TV Media for Paramount, Deadline in May. “These dramas also provide a powerful introduction to local news for our affiliates and our o & o.”
As the Deadline reported at the time, Shell would have mentioned the idea of dropping the 10 -hour time with CBS leaders earlier this year, but the subject was put to rest after being presented with detailed arguments – and data – why programming the time slot has a financial meaning for the network.
“Finally, that could happen, for sure,” said Shell to Deadline today about the reduction of prime time from CBS to two hours, echoing the comments he had made to the NBCU about the “reallocation of resources” to business growth areas. But he reiterated that CBS will continue to program the time of 10 hours for the moment.
The problem with the night late at night
Only a few weeks before the end of the Acquisition by Skydance of Paramount Global, CBS announced that The Late Show with Stephen Colbert will end in May 2026, with The late show The franchise has completely canceled.
While Shell said he was not involved in the decision because it happened before the transaction, he supported it and called it the right decision at the end of the evening in its current form does not work.
“The end of the evening has a huge problem right now,” he said.
Shell noted that Colbert’s viewer is tied with that Late show Predecessor, David Letterman, which means that he remains popular and culturally relevant.
“The problem is that 80% of the hearing and growth is on YouTube,” he said.
With paid YouTube “45 cents on the dollar”, “you can no longer make it work economically,” added Shell.
