ViacomCBS will be in good shape for the fall TV season if productions can restart by the summer, says CEO Bob Bakish
ViacomCBS will be in good shape for the fall TV season if productions can restart by the summer after the novel coronavirus pandemic, CEO Bob Bakish said on the company's earnings call on Thursday.
"We are optimistic that our fall schedule won’t be materially disrupted ... assuming we can get back to production some time this summer," he told analysts. "We are confident we will have compelling content in the fall." The company is looking forward to bringing sports back this summer, "and we are going to be one of the first with golf" from the PGA, he said. "The nature of golf probably makes that a little bit simpler than other sports." He also shared that the company "set up a soundstage in Radford on the CBS lot to film both boxing and Bellator events" without audiences for now.
Meanwhile, "CBS has a very strong and stable schedule," Bakish said, with more than 80 percent of shows renewed. "Because there was a possibility of a writers' strike, we ensured we had a backlot of shows ready to go, so that's an asset we can draw on." He said the firm felt good about soundstage-based productions like sitcoms given they are more controlled, while dramas will start with stage work when production reopens, with location shoots left for later. And unscripted shows could "modify production to include more controllable environments," the CEO also shared.
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