Leslie Moonves Quotations

Rebuilding a network is a slow, brick-by-brick process. It's not just creating a hit show - it's building shows to back up that hit show; it's creating an identity of success so that people want their shows on your network.

The stories about broadcast dying or it being overtaken by cable have stopped. Same goes for the stories about the Internet hurting our business.

Broadcast TV is still the mothership and it will be for the foreseeable future. Audiences may be declining slightly but revenues are going up and profits are going up.

We think wireless is going to grow tremendously. Do I think people are going to watch an episode of 'Survivor' on a 2-inch television set? I doubt it. But I do think somebody's going to go to a grocery store in the middle of a football game and watch that game.

The reason I've been able to maintain my position of chairman of CBS in addition to all the Viacom stuff is my team.

Ultimately journalism has changed... partisanship is very much a part of journalism now.

I think many years from now, people will still watch television, though it will probably be 150 inches wide. What will change is the ability to get 'CSI' not only on TV but also on the Internet, even watching it in a foreign country as it's playing in the U.S.

I was one of the first to read the 'ER' script and the good news is George Clooney still gives me credit for helping to launch his career. I had George Clooney under contract for four years in a row before 'ER' happened. He's one of the few who remembers the people who helped him.

News, by and large, has been the purest of all the television mediums, or at least we've tried to keep it that way, and there constantly is the argument about the separation between church and state.

As the TiVos and the Replays are coming into our world - and they're coming - it's better to - be inside the tent and figure out what they're doing and to work hand in hand with them as opposed to saying, 'You know what, the automobile is not going to work. I'm going to stick to my horse and carriage,' you know.

Broadcasting for advertisers is still the best game in town, and they know it. Look, I admire a lot of the shows on cable. I think 'Mad Men' is wonderful. I think 'Breaking Bad' is wonderful. But let's remember they're about one-tenth the audience of NCIS.

I am broadcaster's biggest cheerleader because I genuinely believe in it. Where else can you get 20 million people a week watching 'NCIS' or 'American Idol?' Where else can you get 120 million watching the Super Bowl?

I read the papers, I surf the Web. At the beginning of the year, I try to see at least two episodes of every show on our network. Am I surfing? All the time. I'm aware of the landscape. I'm a competitor, so I have to know whom I'm competing with.

I take great pride in all the tremendous success we've enjoyed at CBS. And the good news is that I feel even more enthusiastic about what my terrific team and I will accomplish going forward.

CBS is proud to have been the home of David Letterman since 1993. He is truly one of the great talents of our time, and we hope things work out.

I understand why creative people like dark, but American audiences don't like dark. They like story. They do not respond to nervous breakdowns and unhappy episodes that lead nowhere. They like their characters to be a part of the action. They like strength, not weakness, a chance to work out any dilemma.

By the same token, I think news has more and more of a pro bono aspect to all the networks. When we do our election coverages throughout this coming year, it's not a money-maker for us. It is more of a public service situation.

It is too soon to tell, but old, tired 'Survivor' last night beat 'X Factor.' We're really proud of that. We're anticipating a very strong season for CBS.

My wife is the host of 'Big Brother.' Her name is Julie Chen, and she'll say, 'Da da da, but first we do this.' So they mashed together her saying 'but first' a couple dozen times. Literally. In different outfits. And when you cut it together like that, it appears very robotlike. They called her the Chenbot.

With this move, our news division takes yet another giant leap forward. Katie is one of the best in the business. ... Seasoned broadcasters who are at once respected, charismatic and known throughout this country and beyond are increasingly important in this fragmented media landscape.

There are plenty of people who are willing to pay $2.6 million for 30 seconds on the Super Bowl and hundreds of thousands of dollars for 'American Idol.' There will be advertising dollars on the Internet. We're there as well. We win either way.

Seasoned broadcasters who are at once respected, charismatic and known throughout this country and beyond are increasingly important in this fragmented media landscape.

NBC has been the market leader for a long time. They didn't replenish their programming...and it gave us an opportunity and we took advantage of that opportunity.

CBS Vision is a strategic way for us to get ahead of all the new technologies and challenges that are facing our industry, and to share our knowledge and these opportunities with our clients and partners.

CBS is very pleased to have forged this partnership with Mitsubishi that will give American television viewers their first sustained exposure to high-definition television, ... This agreement, which allows us to present the majority of our primetime lineup in the highest definition television format, represents the most significant step any network has taken in HDTV and further establishes CBS' leadership in the transition to digital broadcasting.

CBS is the largest out-of-home advertising company in the U.S.

If we opened up to non-O&Os (owned and operated stations), the deal would have been much more complicated.

If the advertising model does come down slightly in the future, I think there's available resources to get the money back in other ways.

God, it seemed like we had shot somebody.

Katie's someone we like a lot. But you know what? Katie's been at NBC a long, long time. We'll leave it at that.

I think talking to ghosts may skew younger than talking to God,

Steven Bochco has had the biggest hits of the '70s, '80s and '90s. And we hope with 'City of Angels,' it's the biggest hit of the new millennium.

Looking down the road, this was much better than keeping UPN alive.

We realize that if we live in a world that depends totally on CBS.com, we'd be dead.

We have CBS.com, we have our stuff on iTunes. We feel the wave of the future is getting as much distribution as we can. We feel that we should be nonexclusive and get our content out there.

We're coming here with a pretty historic announcement.

Everybody Hates Chris. It's a notable show, so probably a likely survivor.

As a leading content creator we are committed to deepening our consumer's relationship with CBS brands and programming. This move underscores our strategy of offering best-in-class content on as many platforms as possible while seeking out new revenue streams.

As a leading content creator, we are committed to deepening our consumer's relationship with CBS brands and programming. This move underscores our strategy of offering best-in-class content on as many platforms as possible while seeking out new revenue streams.

The bottom line, this is a venture that benefits many constituencies: from local stations to local communities, minority audiences to children, from Madison Avenue to Wall Street, and to the shareholders of the new CBS Corporation, Time Warner and the Tribune Co.. This is a great business and creative move for all three companies.

That one would have been good for me. My mother's name is Josephine.

This is an idea whose time has come. It's a scheduler's dream to have successful and critically acclaimed dramas ... comedies ... and reality series. We are going to have quite a schedule.

This has been a very difficult year for CBS News, for Andrew, for other people in CBS News. I think it was a mutual decision. Andrew's been head of CBS News for a long time, longer than anyone else in many years. It was just time.

There was no way we were going to do this for free.

Everybody's basically putting their toe in the water. We're all aware how hugely significant this is going to become both culturally and financially in the next couple of years.

The bar is very high. You're going to have to be very good to get on our network.

I'm sure there are things we can add, ... There will be synergies in production and potentially with our on-camera people. We like what they've done. We've watched it as it evolved, but I couldn't have predicted that it would become what it is now.

In that original pilot, we basically shot what he wrote.

Before the start of the 2000 season, 'C.S.I.' wasn't supposed to be the hit. We all thought it would be 'The Fugitive.'

I am very pleased that the separation is completed, and we start the new year with clear decks and tremendous focus and energy. Since the split, we announced a 14% increase in our dividend to demonstrate our confidence in our ability to generate strong free cash flow, a measure which showed double-digit growth for us during 2005.

The CW will be able to do in its first season something truly remarkable -- program already hit shows every single day of the week, shows ranked No. 1 or No. 2 in the most-coveted young adult demos.

It's the quiet little hit that is succeeding totally under the radar, ... NCIS.

CBS is the largest out-of-home advertising company in the U.S.

Before the start of the 2000 season, 'C.S.I.' wasn't supposed to be the hit. We all thought it would be 'The Fugitive.

I understand why creative people like dark, but American audiences dont like dark. They like story. They do not respond to nervous breakdowns and unhappy episodes that lead nowhere. They like their characters to be a part of the action. They like strength, not weakness, a chance to work out any dilemma.

We realize that if we live in a world that depends totally on CBS.com, we'd be dead.

You won't see Moonves on Twitter.

There are plenty of people who are willing to pay $2.6 million for 30 seconds on the Super Bowl and hundreds of thousands of dollars for 'American Idol.' There will be advertising dollars on the Internet. We're there as well. We win either way.