Wednesday, September 08, 2004

It's Les Moonves' World ... We Just Live In It

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Let's face it, folks: Les Moonves, Lord of CBS, is red hott. Everything he touches shows up on the Nielsens, that's how hott he is. In the September 10, 2004 issue of Entertainment Weekly, 71% of television insiders said CBS is the network "most on the rise":

"'If you look at their schedule,' says an agent, 'you can't pick more than one or two holes in in it.' Agrees a studio exec, 'they have strength of development, they have strength of second and third-year shows.'"

Now, he is considered the number one player in the television industry. Hows that for buzz.

And, as The Hollywood Reporter notes (link via Defamer), no ascention would be complete without the consolidation of power and rewards for the loyalists:

"Moonves, the longtime CBS chief who was promoted to Viacom co-president and co-chief operating officer alongside former MTV Networks chairman Tom Freston in June, has bestowed new powers on the core CBS executive team -- Nancy Tellem, Nina Tassler, David Stapf, Maria Crenna and Kelly Kahl -- all of whom have worked with Moonves for more than a decade since he headed Lorimar/Warner Bros. Television in the 1980s and early 1990s. The realignment also includes the integration of the CBS Prods. unit, which had only a handful of staffers, into Paramount Network TV."

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