Moonves Confident That CBS Comeback Is in Works

It has fallen precipitously in the ratings, has an overloaded slate of new shows premiering in the fall and may have a new owner before long.

But new CBS Entertainment President Leslie Moonves expressed confidence Saturday that the network will soon become a competitive power again.

“Hopefully, in two years, we will be a major player or on an even keel,” said Moonves at a gathering of television critics and writers in Pasadena as he marked his first industry appearance since taking over his new job six days ago.

Moonves, who was previously the president of Time Warner’s successful television production group, said he would have to train himself to be patient as CBS, formerly the No. 1 network, fights back from a 21% loss in audience share from a year ago.

“I’m not a guy that is quick on patience--it’s not something I’ve known,” he said.

He added that the solution would not happen overnight. CBS has 11 new shows on its fall schedule, and Moonves said “conventional wisdom has shown that that might be too many shows.”

While acknowledging that he was not entirely pleased with the schedule he inherited from former entertainment head Peter Tortorici, Moonves said he was still ready to put his full support behind the lineup.

“There are shows I like and shows I don’t like,” he said, declining to give specifics. “But I am behind the schedule. We have quality programs and quality producers.”

He added that CBS, which has several successful shows that cater to older viewers such as “Murder, She Wrote” and “Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman,” would aggressively go after young people to build up its audience: “Certainly, CBS will have a younger look this season.”

But he denied that the network was abandoning older viewers: “It’s a gradual game plan. It’s not going to happen overnight. . . . Moderation is the name of the game. We are going to get younger, but we are not throwing away the older audience.”

Because of the rebuilding, Moonves said he was willing to give shows a little more time to attract an audience. Instead of the standard six-episode order, CBS is ordering 12 episodes of new shows.

Moonves also said he didn’t have much information about how the possible sale of CBS to Westinghouse Electric Co. would affect the network’s future: “I don’t know if it will happen. All I know is what I read in the papers.”

He said he was already heavily involved with the network’s strategy of renewal. He said he was particularly excited about CBS’ deal with Steven Bochco, producer of “NYPD Blue,” “Hill Street Blues” and several other hit shows.

Bochco’s first project for CBS, “Public Morals,” a comedy about a police station that Moonves said is a “comedy version of ‘NYPD Blue,’ a ‘Barney Miller’ for the ‘90s,” could premiere as early as March.

He added that he was also making changes in several new shows, including adding Joe Morton to the cast of the drama “New York News” and Kylie Travis of “Models Inc.” to “Central Park West.”

Moonves also denied reports that “The Education of Matt Waters,” a drama starring talk-show host Montel Williams that was bumped from the fall schedule, had been scrapped. He said production would begin in mid-September.

One area where Moonves does not appear to be concerned is in the late-night talk-show wars between CBS’ David Letterman and NBC’s Jay Leno. Moonves on Saturday criticized the rival network, which he said had taken cheap shots at Letterman after scoring a ratings victory last week. The win was fueled largely by actor Hugh Grant in his first public appearance after his arrest on lewd-conduct charges.

“NBC can say, ‘We won one week,’ but their winning streak ended at one,” Moonves said.

He was preceded at the Saturday gathering by Letterman, who flew out from New York to address the critics and promote his show. One of the biggest responses to Letterman came when he was asked his opinion about HBO’s upcoming film of the book “The Late Shift,” which detailed the battle between Letterman and Leno over who would take over “The Tonight Show” from Johnny Carson.

Letterman quipped: “My personal feeling is that it’s the single largest waste of film since my wedding photos.”