Leslie Moonves

Executive

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The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Foundation Presents

02:26

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About

About this interview

In his two-and-a-half-hour interview, Leslie Moonves discusses his early years working as an actor, before producing for the theater. He then details 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 discusses his move to the "buyer's side" at CBS, where he ran CBS Entertainment. He talks about rebuilding the weak schedule of the network, and the development of such hit series as Everybody Loves Raymond, CSI, and Survivor. He speaks about his rise in the corporate ranks to his position as president and CEO of CBS and his overall responsibilities, team management, and network programming style. Dan Pasternack conducted the two-part interview on December 19 and 20, 2006 in Los Angeles, CA.

All views expressed by interviewees are theirs alone and not necessarily those of the Television Academy.

"I think when people look back at my career, they'll say I was a loyal guy, I built a great team and I knew how to appreciate talent and what they do."

People Talking About ...

Highlights

Leslie Moonves on the controversy over dividing the teams on the reality show Survivor by race

04:30

Leslie Moonves on his philosophy of assembling a management team

05:02

Leslie Moonves on his role as CBS network president

03:04

Leslie Moonves on the casting of Friends

03:50

Leslie Moonves on what makes a good showrunner

02:49

Full Interview

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Chapter 1

On his early family life and education

On pursuing an acting career before transitioning to producing, where he realized his talent for organization

On beginning his career as an executive at Columbia, before moving to 20th Century Fox Television

On working at 20th Century Fox Television

On working at Lorimar Telepictures and his philosophy of what makes a good showrunner

Chapter 2

On Lorimar's purchase by Warner Bros and the team structure of his division

On the development, casting and programming of Friends

On the development, casting and programming of ER

Chapter 3

On his failed attempt to bring ER to CBS

On his negotiations to leave Warner Bros and join CBS in 1995 and the state of the network at the time

On joining CBS and going from a seller of programming to a buyer

On his first year at CBS

On the development, casting and programming of Everybody Love Raymond

On the sitcom genre

On his role as CBS network president

Chapter 4

On Westinghouse, then Viacom's acquisition of CBS and key executives Sumner Redstone, Mel Karmazin, and Tom Freston

On his philosophy and strategy of content and scheduling

On developing and casting Survivor; on diversity

On developing CSI

Chapter 5

On expanding the CSI franchise on CBS

On the CBS network news division, "memogate," and hiring Katie Couric as anchor

On his 9/11 and its aftermath

On the changing face of the industry

On his appearances on the Late Show with David Letterman

On his future; his successes; and his advice to aspiring executives

Shows

Barbary Coast

Leslie Moonves on his first TV role, a small part on Barbary Coast

02:20

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation

Leslie Moonves on the development of CSI

04:30

Leslie Moonves on the success of CSI franchise

03:15

CSI: Miami

Leslie Moonves on what makes a good showrunner

02:49

Leslie Moonves on the success of CSI franchise

03:15

CSI: NY

Leslie Moonves on the success of CSI franchise

03:15

Cosby

Leslie Moonves on making the deal to bring a new Bill Cosby show to CBS

01:37

Dallas

Leslie Moonves on working at Lorimar Telepictures, which was producing Dallas at the time

01:06

ER

Leslie Moonves on the process of audience testing for ER

04:38

Leslie Moonves on the development of ER

02:31

Leslie Moonves on the casting and scheduling of ER

05:26

Leslie Moonves on "stealing" ER from NBC

01:35

Emmy Awards, The (Primetime and Daytime)

Leslie Moonves on the postponement of the 2001 Emmy Awards due to 9/11

01:23

Everybody Loves Raymond

Leslie Moonves on what makes a good showrunner

02:49

Leslie Moonves on the development, casting and programming of Everybody Loves Raymond

05:21

Friends

Leslie Moonves on the development of Friends

07:52

Leslie Moonves on the casting of Friends

03:50

Late Show with David Letterman

Leslie Moonves on his "More with Les" segments on the Late Show with David Letterman

02:42

Survivor

Leslie Moonves on developing Survivor and the importance of casting the show

08:57

Topics

9/11

Leslie Moonves on 9/11 and CBS' coverage

04:38

George W. Bush

Leslie Moonves on the CBS News "Memogate" controversy about George W. Bush's military service

04:13

Media Consolidation

Leslie Moonves on his role as CBS network president

03:04

Leslie Moonves on the changing ownership of CBS over his tenure

06:15

Studio and Network Management

Leslie Moonves on the process of audience testing for ER

04:48

Leslie Moonves on the state of CBS when he arrived in 1995

06:14

Leslie Moonves on running a network

03:23

Underrepresented Voices

Leslie Moonves on the controversy over dividing the teams on the reality show Survivor by race

04:30

Professions

Actor

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Leslie Moonves on his early acting career and the thrill of being on a production lot

02:20

Television Executive

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Leslie Moonves on what makes a good showrunner

02:49

Leslie Moonves on his philosophy of assembling a management team

05:02

Leslie Moonves on his role as CBS network president

03:04

Genres

Comedy Series

Leslie Moonves on the sitcom genre

03:21

Music Shows & Variety Shows/Specials

Leslie Moonves on the CBS 9/11 tribute

02:48

News and Documentary

Leslie Moonves on CBS News during his tenure

06:52

Reality TV

Leslie Moonves on getting Survivor on the air, casting the show

10:07

People

Ann Donahue

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Leslie Moonves on what makes a good showrunner

02:49

Anthony E. Zuiker

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Leslie Moonves on what makes a good showrunner

02:49

Leslie Moonves on the development of CSI

04:30

Leslie Moonves on the success of CSI franchise

03:15

Bill Cosby

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Leslie Moonves on making the deal to bring a new Bill Cosby show to CBS

01:37

Bob Daly

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Leslie Moonves on working with Bob Daly at Warner Bros

06:32

Leslie Moonves on his negotiations to join CBS in 1995 and the state of the network at the time

06:14

Brad Garrett

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Leslie Moonves on the development, casting and programming of Everybody Loves Raymond

05:21

Carol Mendelsohn

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Leslie Moonves on what makes a good showrunner

02:49

Chuck Lorre

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Leslie Moonves on his maintaining business relationships

02:00

Courteney Cox

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Leslie Moonves on the casting of Courtney Cox on Friends

00:27

Dan Rather

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Leslie Moonves on the CBS News "Memogate" controversy about George W. Bush's military service

04:13

Danny Cannon

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Leslie Moonves on the success of CSI franchise

03:15

David Crane

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Leslie Moonves on the development of Friends

04:40

David E. Kelley

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Leslie Moonves on the programming of ER and Chicago Hope

01:34

David Janollari

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Leslie Moonves on the development of Friends

04:40

David Letterman

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Leslie Moonves on the development, casting and programming of Everybody Loves Raymond

05:21

Leslie Moonves on his "More with Les" segments on the Late Show with David Letterman

02:42

Dick Wolf

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Leslie Moonves on the success of CSI franchise

03:15

Doris Roberts

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Leslie Moonves on the development, casting and programming of Everybody Loves Raymond

05:21

Eriq La Salle

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Leslie Moonves on the casting of Eriq La Salle on ER

01:11

Fred Silverman

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Leslie Moonves on his role as CBS network president

03:04

George Clooney

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Leslie Moonves on the casting of George Clooney on ER

02:08

Ghen Maynard

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Leslie Moonves on developing Survivor

08:57

Gregory Harrison

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Leslie Moonves on working at Gregory Harrison's theater production company early in his career

04:59

Jeff Sagansky

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Leslie Moonves on the casting of Matthew Perry on Friends

01:39

Leslie Moonves on the development of ER

02:31

Jeffrey Katzenberg

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Leslie Moonves on Jeffrey Katzenberg offering him a job at Disney

02:11

Jennifer Aniston

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Leslie Moonves on the casting of Jennifer Aniston on Friends

01:12

Jerry Bruckheimer

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Leslie Moonves on the development of CSI

04:30

John Wells

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Leslie Moonves on the development of ER

02:31

Julianna Margulies

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Leslie Moonves on the casting of Julianna Margulies on ER

00:22

Katie Couric

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Leslie Moonves on CBS News anchor Katie Couric

01:42

Kelly Kahl

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Leslie Moonves on scheduling Survivor

01:42

Kevin Bright

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Leslie Moonves on the development of Friends

04:40

Laurence A. Tisch

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Leslie Moonves on his negotiations to join CBS in 1995 and the state of the network at the time

06:14

Lee Rich

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Leslie Moonves on being recruited to Lorimar by Lee Rich

03:33

Mark Burnett

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Leslie Moonves on developing Survivor

08:57

Marta Kauffman

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Leslie Moonves on the development of Friends

04:40

Matthew Perry

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Leslie Moonves on the casting of Matthew Perry on Friends

01:39

Mel Karmazin

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Leslie Moonves on Mel Karmazin

00:43

Michael Crichton

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Leslie Moonves on the development of ER

02:31

Nancy Tellem

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Leslie Moonves on his philosophy of assembling a management team

05:02

Leslie Moonves on his philosophy and strategy of content and scheduling

08:06

Leslie Moonves on developing Survivor

08:57

Nina Tassler

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Leslie Moonves on his philosophy of assembling a management team

05:02

Leslie Moonves on his philosophy and strategy of content and scheduling

08:06

Leslie Moonves on the development of CSI

04:30

Noah Wyle

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Leslie Moonves on the casting of Noah Wyle on ER

00:11

Patricia Heaton

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Leslie Moonves on the development, casting and programming of Everybody Loves Raymond

05:21

Peter Boyle

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Leslie Moonves on the development, casting and programming of Everybody Loves Raymond

05:21

Peter Golden

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Leslie Moonves on his philosophy and strategy of content and scheduling

08:06

Phil Rosenthal

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Leslie Moonves on what makes a good showrunner

02:49

Leslie Moonves on the development, casting and programming of Everybody Loves Raymond

05:21

Richard Hatch

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Leslie Moonves on developing Survivor

08:57

Sanford Meisner

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Leslie Moonves on studying acting uner Sanford Meisner

05:39

Saul Ilson

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Leslie Moonves beginning his career as an executive at Columbia, before moving to 20th Century Fox Television

03:08

Sumner Redstone

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Leslie Moonves on Sumner Redstone

01:11

Tom Freston

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Leslie Moonves on Tom Freston

01:13

Warren Littlefield

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Leslie Moonves beginning his career as an executive at Columbia, before moving to 20th Century Fox Television

03:08

William Shatner

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Leslie Moonves on his first TV role, a small part (delivering a telegram to William Shatner) on Barbary Coast

02:20