TCA: Nina Tassler Praises Ratings & Looks Forward For CBS

As Entertainment Presidents for major TV networks go, Nina Tassler has the fortune of being part of what might be TV’s most consistent network, as far as ratings go. That is also a challenging role, as it is also her responsibility to make sure that CBS keeps those high levels.

So far, so good. Presenting yesterday at the Television Critics Association press tour in Pasadena, CA, Tassler praised the ratings of shows like NCIS and The Big Bang Theory but was also quick to point out the DVR and VOD success of shows like The Good Wife. “CBS continues to be America’s most‑watched network by a wide margin,” she says.

New launches like Intelligence also have CBS riding high, even though the show dropped a bit as it went into its second week in its regular time slot of Mondays at 10PM – a much more difficult slot for a show to stand out, which is something Tassler is well aware of. “Look, it’s a much tougher time period, Monday at 10 o’clock.  We all know that. Tip of the hat to Blacklist and Castle. They are tough competition,” Tassler admits, before assuring that CBS has a lot of belief in the show. “We’ve seen 11 episodes of Intelligence so far.  We like the stories.  We love our stars, and we think it’s a really good show,” she says.

The success of Under The Dome last summer also inspired the network to look into more limited-run programming with big stars. This summer brings us Extant with Halle Berry in addition to a second season of Under The Dome. “What really got us most excited about this project and working with Spielberg and Amblin again is this show is just the perfect melding of classic Spielberg genres.  It’s science fiction, and it’s family, and nobody does that better than Steven,” Tassler says.

Extant will premiere July 2, with Under The Dome starting its second season June 30. Looking farther into the future, CBS has Dovekeepers from Mark Burnett and Roma Downey is in the future. “It’s a story that has tremendous emotional appeal,” Tassler promises. Battle Creek from David Shore and Vince Gilligan is also in the future.

Tassler also responded to the comments by FOX’s Kevin Reilly about abandoning the traditional pilot process. “I did hear his comment, and I can appreciate where he’s coming from, and, obviously, he’s got to make decisions relative to his own company and his own needs,” Tassler responds, “and I thought a lot about this and had to look back and say, look, pilot season isn’t perfect, and it certainly is a very difficult time.  It’s frustrating, but it’s also exciting.”

Tassler points to past successes like The Big Bang Theory and CSI as examples of when the pilot process works. “As a reminder, Big Bang was a pilot that we shot with Jim and Johnny, but we didn’t have Kaley.  So we looked at the pilot, and Chuck looked at the pilot and said, ‘You know what, yes, I could do better.’  We shot a second pilot and we added Kaley Cuoco.  Same thing with CSI.  The pilot process is not perfect, but CSI was the last script in, and those producers had to get that script in because of pilot season.  It was the last script picked up.  Danny Cannon, when he was set to direct the pilot, it literally was moments before we were supposed to start shooting.  It was the last pilot delivered, but it had to get in.  And it was the fact that it was delivered under that kind of pressure that sort of forced, in analysis, a very smart creative team to make the best creative decisions, from Jerry Bruckheimer to Carol Mendelsohn to Anthony Zuiker to Billy Petersen, everybody was under that pressure, but because they are really great creatively, they made the best decisions and the right decisions,” Tassler recalls.

CBS has had a successful 2013-2014 season, and Tassler’s comment seem to confirm that the network has good plans in place for the immediate future.