CBS’s Carnegie Hall Upfront launched with Alan Cummings (The Good Wife) welcoming advertisers with an adaptation of Cabaret’s Wilkommen (“Other networks make you sad. We have no losers here. Here, TV is beautiful!”) that was a rousing success. CEO Les Moonves took the stage to remind everyone that CBS has been America’s most-watched network 11 times in the past 12 years, saying, “Nobody on Earth brings more quality programs to audiences than we do.”
With Thursday Night Football on its way, NFL announcer Jim Nantz arrived to gush, “We can’t wait to bring the NFL to CBS on Thursday nights.” David Letterman, leaving Late Show next year, took to the stage for a chat with Moonves, and Halle Berry made an appearance on behalf of her upcoming summer series, Extant. Clips of upcoming shows included The McCarthys, Stalker and Madam Secretary (the crowd went wild when Morgan Freeman stood up). Nina Tassler told the crowd that thanks to Thursday football, there will rarely be repeats on the night.
On the business front, CBS network sales president Jo Ann Ross promised custom multiplatform solutions to reach viewers “wherever and whenever they’re watching.”
