CBS Television Stations

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CBS TELEVISION STATIONS
by Jill Condulis

 

        Quick Facts and Important People 

Founded:                                                       2000

Executive Chairman:                            Sumner Redstone       

President :                                               Peter Dunn 

 

 Brief History

CBS Television Stations, is part of the CBS Corporation, which is one of the “big four,” television networks, whose competitors include ABC, NBC and FOX. A fairly new company, CBS Television Stations was born in May of 2000 after a merger between Viacom and the CBS Corporation. The merger was originally called Viacom Television Stations Group, until 2006 when it was rebranded to it’s current name after Viacom split into two public companies. [1]

As of 2012 CBS Television Stations owns 28 stations, which are broken down 14 key stations for the CBS Television Network, 9 to the CW Television Network, and two independent stations. Among its stations are WCBS-TV (New York), KCBS-TV and KCAL-TV (Los Angeles), WBBM-TV (Chicago), KYW-TV and WPSG-TV (Philadelphia), WBZ-TV and WSBK-TV (Boston), KPIX-TV and KBCW-TV (San Francisco), KTVT-TV and KTXA-TV (Dallas-Ft. Worth), WUPA-TV (Atlanta), WWJ-TV and WKBD-TV (Detroit), KSTW-TV (Seattle), WCCO-TV (Minneapolis), WTOG-TV (Tampa-St. Petersburg), WFOR-TV and WBFS-TV (Miami), KCNC-TV (Denver), KOVR-TV and KMAX-TV (Sacramento), KDKA-TV and WPCW-TV (Pittsburgh), WJZ-TV (Baltimore), WGNT (Norfolk), as well as satellite stations KCCO-TV (Alexandria, MN) and KCCW-TV (Walker, MN).

Recent News

CBS Television Stations have had a very quiet start of the year, with very little updates or news. The biggest announcement from CBS Television was their plan to acquire the independent New York Station WLNY-TV (which stands for We Love New York). On April 2nd, CBS Television Stations announced the closing acquisition of WLNY-TV and initial plans for operating the station, including the tri-state area’s first one-hour 9:00 PM news program. The initial plans for operating the network include launching a weekday 7:00-9:00 AM and 9:00-10:00 PM local news programs early this summer, and all WLNY programming will be broadcasted in high definition. The 9:00 PM newscast will feature CBS 2 anchors Chris Wragge and Dana Tyler, weathercaster Lonnie Quinn and sports anchor Otis Livingston as well as WLNY’s Richard Rose, who will report nightly from the CBS 2-WLNY news bureau on Long Island.

The news of acquiring WLNY was first released in December of last year. Now that the acquisition is complete, the pairing of WLNY with WCBS-TV, the Flagship of CBS Television Network, gives CBS a duopoly as the nation’s largest media market. CBS now has duopolies in 10 markets, including New York, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Dallas, San Francisco, Boston, Detroit, Miami, Sacramento and Pittsburgh.  The CBS Television Stations group includes 29 stations, including 16 that are part of the CBS Television Network, eight affiliates of The CW Network, three independent stations and two MyNetworkTV affiliates.

CBS Television Station’s President Peter Dunn, announced that veteran New York local television executive Betty Ellen Berlamino, who previously spent 17 years with WPIX-TV, will be named Vice President and Station Manager of WLNY. [2]

Events broadcasted on CBS

CBS announced a new interactive feature of the Academy of Country Music Awards this year. Visitors of the site will be able to vote for the coveted ACM Entertainer of the Year and New Artist of the Year. The show will be airing Sunday, April 1st at 8 pm. Among the nominees for Entertainer of the year are Blake Shelton, Taylor Swift, Brad Paisley and Kenny Chesney. [3]

April 1st, 2012- Taylor Swift is awarded Entertainer of the Year at the Academy of Country Music Awards on CBS.

Taylor Swift ACM Awards

Content

CBS Television Station is viewed as the strongest of the “big four” networks with some of the top rated shows on television. The strong programming is evident, as CBS announces it will be renewing eighteen shows for the upcoming 2012-2013 season.

CBS to Renew 18 Shows for upcoming 2012-2013 Season:

  • 2 Broke Girls
  • 48 Hours Mystery
  • 60 Minutes
  • The Amazing Race
  • The Big Bang Theory
  • Blue Bloods
  • Criminal Minds
  • CSI
  • The Good Wife
  • Hawaii Five-0
  • How I Met Your Mother
  • The Mentalist
  • Mike & Molly
  • NCIS
  • NCIS: Los Angeles
  • Person of Interest
  • Survivor
  • Undercover Boss
The 2012 Upfront Coverage for CBS is announced to take place on May 16th, 2012, which will include not only season’s returning but upcoming series as well. [4]

Most noticeably absent from the list is Two and a Half Men, because despite its unbelievable ratings they are currently undergoing negotiations. Men creator Lee Aronsohn insists Ashton Kutcher wants to return for a 10th season of the hit comedy. [5]

On Two and a Half Men, former star Charlie Sheen’s character, Charlie Harper, will be returning to the show on April 30th in spectral form, which is creating a lot of buzz and anticipation from loyal fans. Oscar winning actress Kathy Bates will be playing Charlie in the episode.

Kathy Bates on Two and a Half Men

CBS Announced on March 22nd the air dates of several series’ finales with some shows such as How I Met Your Mother, 2 Broke Girls, The Amazing Race and Survivor concluding the season with a double episode.

In addition to the 18 renewal series, CBS has recently announced that it will be commissioning a pilot of a brand new format called, “The Audience,” from British Studio ITV Studios. The show’s concept revolves around the idea that wisdom from the crowd is used to help and individual’s personal dilemma. [6]

 Finances

CBS Corporation has not released it’s First Quarter financial report for 2012 yet ((First Quarter of 2012 will be released on May 1, 2012), however, this past February, CBS released its strong Fourth Quarter results, which is hopes will help predict its earnings for the upcoming quarter. According to CBS’s Fourth Quarter report, entertainment revenues for the fourth quarter of 2011 decreased 1% to $2.00 billion from $2.02 billion for the same time period from the previous year. The decrease reflects the second-cycle syndication sale of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation during the fourth quarter of 2010.  [7]

CBS Corporation Stock Market

On the advertising front, CBS is preparing to sell its fall season advertising for the upcoming season. According to Barclay’s Capital’s Anthony DiClemente, CBS is expected to see a stronger ad price gains than its competitors and grow its upfront revenue 10%. This increase would bring CBS’s overall ad revenue up to $2.92 billion. [8]

Sources

[1] “CBS Corporation.” CBS Corporation. <http://www.cbscorporation.com/portfolio.php?division=96>.

[2] “CBS Corporation.” CBS Corporation. <http://www.cbscorporation.com/news-article.php?id=870>

[3] “CBS.” Academy of Country Music Awards: Watch Episodes and Video and Join the Ultimate Fan Community. <http://www.cbs.com/shows/academy_of_country_music/>

[4] “2012 CBS Upfront Coverage.” Keeping You and Your TV Turned On. <http://tvdonewright.com/2012-2013-preview/2012-cbs-upfront-coverage/>

[5] “Ashton Kutcher Wants to Return for Another ‘Two and a Half Men’ Season, Says Show Co-Creator.” The Hollywood Reporter. <http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/lee-aronsohn-ashton-kutcher-two-and-a-half-men-306787>

[6] “CBS Commissions British Format Show ‘The Audience’ for U.S. Market.” The Hollywood Reporter. <http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/cbs-commissions-british-format-show-316971>

[7] http://investors.cbscorporation.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=99462&p=quarterlyearnings

[8] “Upfronts 2012: Analyst Predicts More Modest Broadcast, Cable TV Growth.” The Hollywood Reporter. <http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/upfronts-2012-cbs-abc-nbc-fox-barclays-analyst-predicts-broadcast-cable-growth-317974>.