Leslie Moonves
Executive
About This Interview
Leslie Moonves was interviewed for two-and-a-half hours (in two sessions) in Los Angeles, CA. Moonves discussed his early years working as an actor, before producing for the theatre. He then detailed his early executive jobs at Twentieth Century Television and Lorimar, culminating in Lorimar's merger with Warner Bros. Television, where Moonves was instrumental in developing such hit series as Friends and ER. He then discussed his move to the "buyer's side" at CBS, where he ran CBS Entertainment. He discussed rebuilding the weak schedule of the network, and the development of such hit series as Everybody Loves Raymond, CSI and Survivor. He spoke about his rise in the corporate ranks to his position as President & CEO of CBS and his overall responsibilities and team management and network programming style. The two-part interview was conducted by Dan Pasternack on December 19 and December 20, 2006.
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Highlights
Leslie Moonves on getting Survivor on the air, casting the show
Clip begins at: 16:23, Duration: 10m 07s- Leslie Moonves on the controversy over dividing the teams on the reality show Survivor by race
Clip begins at: 22:00, Duration: 04m 30s 
Leslie Moonves on the nature of network politics
Clip begins at: 00:21- Leslie Moonves on "stealing" ER from NBC
Clip begins at: 00:22 
Leslie Moonves on CSI
Clip begins at: 00:25
Interview
- Part 1
- On his early family life and education
Clip begins at: 0:0 - On pursuing an acting career before transitioning to producing, where he realized his talent for organization
Clip begins at: 03:41 - On beginning his career as an executive at Columbia, before moving to 20th Century Fox Television
Clip begins at: 13:51 - On working at 20th Century Fox Television
Clip begins at: 16:59 - On working at Lorimar Telepictures and his philosophy of what makes a good showrunner
Clip begins at: 21:04 - Part 2
- On Lorimar's purchase by Warner Bros and the team structure of his division
Clip begins at: 0:24 - On the development, casting and programming of Friends
Clip begins at: 07:43 - On the development, casting and programming of ER
Clip begins at: 15:35 - Part 3
- On his failed attempt to bring ER to CBS
Clip begins at: 0:22 - On his negotiations to leave Warner Bros and join CBS in 1995 and the state of the network at the time
Clip begins at: 01:57 - On joining CBS and going from a seller of programming to a buyer
Clip begins at: 08:11 - On his first year at CBS
Clip begins at: 16:40 - On the development, casting and programming of Everybody Love Raymond
Clip begins at: 18:29 - On the sitcom genre
Clip begins at: 23:50 - On his role as CBS network president
Clip begins at: 27:11 - Part 4
- On Westinghouse, then Viacom's acquisition of CBS and key executives Sumner Redstone, Mel Karmazin, and Tom Freston
Clip begins at: 0:20 - On his philosophy and strategy of content and scheduling
Clip begins at: 06:35 - On developing and casting Survivor; on diversity
Clip begins at: 14:41 - On developing CSI
Clip begins at: 26:30 - Part 5
- On expanding the CSI franchise on CBS
Clip begins at: 0:20 - On the CBS network news division, "memogate," and hiring Katie Couric as anchor
Clip begins at: 03:37 - On his 9/11 and its aftermath
Clip begins at: 10:29 - On the changing face of the industry
Clip begins at: 18:28 - On his appearances on the Late Show with David Letterman
Clip begins at: 21:51 - On his future; his successes; and his advice to aspiring executives
Clip begins at: 24:33
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What a terrific interview with a legendary TV exec! Thank you thank you thank you.
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