CBS Won’t Remain No. 3 in Ratings, Tisch Tells Stations

Last season, for the first time in its history, CBS finished third in the television ratings race. And on Sunday at the Century Plaza Hotel, company President and Chief Executive Laurence A. Tisch sought to reassure representatives of the network’s affiliated stations that the same fate would not befall the network in 1988-89.

In his opening remarks to the CBS affiliates’ annual convention in Los Angeles, Tisch told the group at a luncheon that “I have never been satisfied with anything except first place, and I will not be satisfied with anything except first place at CBS.”

Tisch said that although “it will take time--several years--and it will not be easy,” the beleaguered network would return to the top of the network heap.

“We are very honest with ourselves about our problems. Obviously, we are dissatisfied with our prime-time ratings,” he said. “(But) we will not act out of frustration, and we will not overreact to short-term adversity.

“You are not alone,” Tisch added. “I share your disaffections, your dissatisfactions and your concerns.”

As he has stated frequently in the recent past, Tisch assured affiliates that he has no intention either to sell CBS or to leave it. “This network is not for sale,” he said. “I am committed to being part of the network’s future for the years ahead.”

Tisch’s remarks followed a closed-door session with the affiliates that ran more than an hour beyond schedule due to the group’s many questions; one station manager described the atmosphere at this convention as “a little more frustrating than last year.”

The affiliates’ concerns included the network’s flagging prime-time ratings (since the end of last season, it has struggled back into a distant second place); its news operations, which suffered massive budget and staff cuts last year; the future of “CBS Evening News” anchor Dan Rather, plagued by low ratings and negative press last year, and the network’s recently announced purchase of U.S. television rights to the 1992 Winter Olympic Games for a reported $243 million.

In a news conference following the luncheon, Tisch was echoed by Gene F. Jankowski, president of the CBS Broadcast Group, and Ben Tucker, chairman of the CBS Affiliates Advisory Board, in saying the network will be back on track next year with a stronger promotional effort for its entertainment programming.

Seeking Broader Audience

And despite that fact that the network has often been criticized for programming that appeals most strongly to an older and more rural audience, Tisch said last season’s new shows--such as the low-rated but critically praised “Frank’s Place”--appealed to a young, urban audience that was too narrow to create a ratings hit.

“We had no programming that gets into the 40s” age group, he said. Tisch did, however, promise that “Frank’s Place,” which is not on the fall schedule, will return to the network at some point.

Tisch said the massive budget cuts that took place at the network under his 1 1/2-year-old reign as president had nothing to do with CBS’ third-place finish last season. “I spent the first year at CBS doing what I thought was necessary to straighten out the finances of the company, and I think we’ve accomplished that,” he said.

He added that CBS’ purchase of rights to the Winter Olympics, which provided a whopping ratings boost to ABC when that network aired the games last season, is a prime indicator of his commitment not to let stinginess stand in the way of network progress.

Although the Olympics left ABC with a $65-million deficit, Tisch said CBS’ Olympic purchase is money well spent, since it leads the broad audience for the Games to sample CBS’ programming. “This is the first time anyone has claimed that I am prone to financial extravagance,” he joked at the luncheon.

Tisch also defended Dan Rather, who took some flak last season for allowing six minutes of dead air time during a news broadcast as well as an on-air cat fight with Vice President George Bush. “On a personal basis, I think that Dan Rather is the best in the business,” Tisch said. “I must say I have complete confidence in Dan Rather.”

When asked if CBS could be profitable even if it remains in second place, Tisch replied with a grin: “Sure, we can make money as the No. 2 network, but that’s no fun. We have to be No. 1.”