CBS Broadcasting, Inc

CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainment Group division of Paramount Global.

Its headquarters is at the CBS Building in New York City. It has major production facilities and operations at the CBS Broadcast Center and the headquarters of owner Paramount Global at One Astor Plaza (both also in that city) and Television City and the CBS Studio Center in Los Angeles. It is also sometimes referred to as the Eye Network in reference to the company's trademark symbol which has been in use since 1951. It has also been called the Tiffany Network which alludes to the perceived high quality of its programming during the tenure of William S. Paley. It can also refer to some of CBS's first demonstrations of color television, which were held in the former Tiffany and Company Building in New York City in 1950.

History

The network has its origins in United Independent Broadcasters Inc., a radio network founded in Chicago by New York City talent agent Arthur Judson in January 1927. In April of that year, the Columbia Phonograph Company, parent of the Columbia record label, invested in the network, resulting in its rebranding as the Columbia Phonographic Broadcasting System (CPBS). In early 1928, Judson and Columbia sold the network to Isaac and Leon Levy, two brothers who owned WCAU, the network's Philadelphia affiliate, as well as their partner Jerome Louchheim. They installed Paley, an in-law of the Levys, as president of the network. With the Columbia record label out of ownership, Paley rebranded the network as the Columbia Broadcasting System. By September 1928, Paley became the network's majority owner with 51 percent of the business. Paramount Pictures then acquired the other 49 percent of CBS in 1929, but the Great Depression eventually forced the studio to sell its shares back to the network in 1932. CBS would then remain primarily an independent company throughout the next 63 years. Under Paley's guidance, CBS would first become one of the largest radio networks in the United States, and eventually one of the Big Three American broadcast television networks. CBS ventured and expanded its horizons through television starting in the 1940s, spinning-off its broadcast syndication division Viacom to a separate company in 1971. Westinghouse Electric Corporation then purchased CBS in 1995 and rebranded itself as CBS Corporation. In 1974, CBS dropped its original full name and became known simply as CBS, Inc. The Westinghouse Electric Corporation acquired the network in 1995, renaming its corporate entity to its current name CBS Broadcasting, Inc. two years later, and eventually adopted the name of the company it had acquired to become CBS Corporation. In 2000, CBS came under the control of the original incarnation of Viacom, which was formed as a spin-off of CBS in 1971. In 2005, Viacom split itself into two separate companies and re-established CBS Corporation through the spin-off of its broadcast television, radio and select cable television and non-broadcasting assets, with the CBS network at its core. CBS Corporation was controlled by Sumner Redstone through National Amusements, which also controlled the second incarnation of Viacom until December 4, 2019, when the two separated companies agreed to re-merge to become ViacomCBS. Following the sale, CBS and its other broadcasting and entertainment assets were reorganized into a new division, CBS Entertainment Group.

CBS operated the CBS Radio network until 2017, when it sold its radio division to Entercom (now known as Audacy, Inc. since 2021). Before this, CBS Radio mainly provided news and features content for its portfolio of owned-and-operated radio stations in large and mid-sized markets, as well as its affiliated radio stations in various other markets. While CBS Corporation common shareholders (i.e. not the multiple-voting shares held by National Amusements) were given a 72% stake in the combined Entercom, CBS no longer owns or operates any radio stations directly; however, it still provides radio news broadcasts to its radio affiliates and to the new owners of its former radio stations, and licenses the rights to use CBS trademarks under a long-term contract. The television network has over 240 owned-and-operated and affiliated television stations throughout the United States, some also available in Canada via pay-television providers or in border areas over-the-air. CBS was ranked 197th on the 2018 Fortune 500 of the largest American corporations by revenue.

Programming

, CBS provides hours of regularly scheduled network programming each week. The network provides 22 hours of primetime programming to affiliated stations Monday through Saturday from 8:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. and Sunday from 7:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific time (7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 6:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. on Sunday in Central/Mountain time).

The network also provides daytime programming from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific weekdays (subtract 1 hour for all other time zones), including a half-hour break for local news and features the game shows ''The Price Is Right'' and ''Let's Make a Deal'', soap operas ''The Young and the Restless'' and ''The Bold and the Beautiful'', and talk show '' The Talk''.

CBS News programming includes ''CBS Mornings'' from 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. weekdays and ''CBS Saturday Morning'' in the same time period on Saturdays; nightly editions of ''CBS Evening News''; the Sunday political talk show ''Face the Nation''; early morning news program ''CBS Morning News''; and the newsmagazines ''60 Minutes'', ''CBS News Sunday Morning'', and '' 48 Hours''. On weeknights, CBS airs the talk shows ''The Late Show with Stephen Colbert'' and ''The Late Late Show with James Corden''.

CBS Sports programming is also provided most weekend afternoons. Due to the unpredictable length of sporting events, CBS occasionally delays scheduled primetime programs to allow the programs to air in their entirety, a practice most commonly seen with Sunday Night Football. In addition to rights to sports events from major sports organizations such as the NFL, PGA, and NCAA, CBS broadcasts the '' CBS Sports Spectacular'', a sports anthology series which fills certain weekend afternoon time slots prior to (or in some cases, in lieu of) a major sporting event.

Daytime

CBS's daytime schedule is the longest among the major networks at hours. It is the home of the long-running game show ''The Price Is Right'', which began production in 1972 and is the longest continuously running daytime game show on network television. After being hosted by Bob Barker for 35 years, the show has been hosted since 2007 by actor and comedian Drew Carey. The network is also home to the current incarnation of ''Let's Make a Deal'', hosted by singer and comedian Wayne Brady.

CBS is the only commercial broadcast network that continues to broadcast daytime game shows. Notable game shows that once aired as part of the network's daytime lineup include ''Match Game'', ''Tattletales'', '' The $10/25,000 Pyramid'', ''Press Your Luck'', ''Card Sharks'', ''Family Feud'', and '' Wheel of Fortune''. Past game shows that have had both daytime and prime time runs on the network include ''Beat the Clock'' and '' To Tell the Truth''. Two long-running primetime-only games were the panel shows ''What's My Line?'' and ''I've Got a Secret''.

The network is also home to '' The Talk'', a panel talk show similar in format to ABC's '' The View''. It debuted in October 2010. As of the show's thirteenth season, the panel features Sheryl Underwood, Amanda Kloots, Jerry O'Connell, Akbar Gbaja-Biamila and Natalie Morales who serves as moderator.

CBS Daytime airs two daytime soap operas each weekday: the hour-long series ''The Young and the Restless'', which debuted in 1973, and the half-hour series ''The Bold and the Beautiful'', which debuted in 1987. CBS has long aired the most soap operas out of the Big Three networks, carrying hours of soaps on its daytime lineup from 1977 to 2009, and still retains the longest daily schedule. Other than ''Guiding Light'', notable daytime soap operas that once aired on CBS include ''As the World Turns'', ''Love of Life'', ''Search for Tomorrow'', ''The Secret Storm'', ''The Edge of Night'', and ''Capitol''.

Children's programming

CBS broadcast the live-action series ''Captain Kangaroo'' on weekday mornings from 1955 to 1982, and on Saturdays until 1984. From 1971 to 1986, CBS News produced a series of one-minute segments titled ''In the News'', which aired between other Saturday morning programs. Otherwise, CBS's children's programming has mostly focused on animated series such as reruns of ''Mighty Mouse'', ''Looney Tunes'', and ''Tom and Jerry'' cartoons, as well as ''Scooby-Doo'', ''Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids'', '' Jim Henson's Muppet Babies'', ''Garfield and Friends'', and ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles''. In 1997, CBS premiered ''Wheel 2000'', a children's version of the syndicated game show '' Wheel of Fortune'' which aired simultaneously on the Game Show Network.

In September 1998, CBS began contracting the time period out to other companies to provide programming and material for its Saturday morning schedule. The first of these outsourced blocks was the ''CBS Kidshow'', which ran until 2000 and featured programming from Canadian studio Nelvana such as '' Anatole'', '' Mythic Warriors'', ''Rescue Heroes'', and ''Flying Rhino Junior High''.

After its agreement with Nelvana ended, the network then entered into a deal with Nickelodeon to air programming from its Nick Jr. block beginning in September 2000, under the banner Nick Jr. on CBS. By the time of the deal, Nickelodeon and CBS were corporate sisters through the latter's then parent company Viacom as a result of its 2000 merger with CBS Corporation. From 2002 to 2005, live-action and animated Nickelodeon series aimed at older children also aired as part of the block under the name Nick on CBS.

Following the Viacom-CBS split, the network decided to discontinue the Nickelodeon content deal. In March 2006, CBS entered into a three-year agreement with DIC Entertainment, which was acquired later that year by the Cookie Jar Group, to program the Saturday morning time slot as part of a deal that included distribution of select tape-delayed Formula One auto races. The ''KOL Secret Slumber Party on CBS'' replaced ''Nick Jr. on CBS'' that September, with the inaugural lineup featuring two new first-run live-action programs, one animated series that originally aired in syndication in 2005, and three shows produced prior to 2006. In mid-2007, KOL, the children's service of AOL, withdrew sponsorship from CBS's Saturday morning block, which was subsequently renamed KEWLopolis. Complementing CBS's 2007 lineup were ''Care Bears'', ''Strawberry Shortcake'', and ''Sushi Pack''. On February 24, 2009, it was announced that CBS would renew its contract with Cookie Jar for another three seasons through 2012. On September 19, 2009, KEWLopolis was renamed Cookie Jar TV.

On July 24, 2013, CBS entered into an agreement with Litton Entertainment, which already programmed a syndicated Saturday morning block exclusive to ABC stations and would later produce a block for CBS sister network The CW that would debut the following year, to launch a new Saturday morning block featuring live-action reality-based lifestyle, wildlife, and sports series. The Litton-produced CBS Dream Team block, aimed at teenagers 13 to 16 years old, debuted on September 28, 2013, replacing Cookie Jar TV.

Specials

Animated primetime holiday specials

CBS was the original broadcast network home of the animated primetime holiday specials based on the ''Peanuts'' comic strip, beginning with ''A Charlie Brown Christmas'' in 1965. Over 30 holiday Peanuts specials (each for a specific holiday such as Halloween) were broadcast on CBS until 2000, when the broadcast rights were acquired by ABC. CBS also aired several primetime animated specials based on the works of Dr. Seuss