Skydance’s acquisition of Paramount Global put former NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell back in charge of a broadcast network. As President of the newly merged Paramount, he oversees the day-to-day operations of the conglomerate’s media businesses, including CBS.
Just before he exited NBCU in April 2023, Shell had been actively exploring getting NBC out of the 10 PM hour, the part of primetime most impacted by people’s changing viewing habits that has them migrating to streaming in large numbers during the hour.
Since Shell was a proponent of NBC dropping the 10 PM hour, there had been a lot of speculation that he may want to do the same with CBS once he formally becomes Paramount President.
At a Los Angeles press event Wednesday with top Paramount executives, Deadline asked Shell about his plans for CBS’ 10 PM hour just as we did at the last NBCU press event before his departure.
“Same question, different answer,” Shell said, noting that CBS’ 10 PM is “healthier.”
Admitting the challenges broadcast networks face at 10 PM, he noted that programs scheduled in the hour are judged on both how they perform on the linear network and on streaming, adding that CBS’ 10 PM dramas are doing well in both departments, so cutting the hour is not on the table right now.
Blue Bloods is a prime example of a CBS drama that thrived in the 10 PM time slot for its 14-season run, something CBS is looking to replicate with the upcoming offshoot Boston Blue, scheduled in the same Friday 10 PM time period. Comedic crime drama Elsbeth, which currently occupies the Thursday 10 PM hour, has been among CBS’ best multi-platform performers.
“The 10 PM dramas are good business for CBS from a performance and P&L standpoint, as well as the value they bring to Paramount+,” George Cheeks, who continues to oversee CBS as Chair of TV Media for Paramount, told Deadline in May. “These dramas also provide a powerful lead-in for late local news for our affiliates and O&O’s.”
As Deadline reported at the time, Shell reportedly did bring up the idea about dropping the 10 PM hour with CBS executives earlier this year but the topic was put to rest after he was presented with detailed arguments — and data — why programming the time slot makes financial sense for the network.
“Eventually, that could happen, for sure,” Shell told Deadline today about trimming CBS’ primetime to two hours, echoing comments he had made back at NBCU about “reallocating resources” toward growth areas of the company. But he reiterated that CBS will continue to program the 10 PM hour for the time being.
The problem with late-night
Just a couple of weeks before Skydance’s acquisition of Paramount Global was completed, CBS announced that The Late Show with Stephen Colbert will end in May 2026, with The Late Show franchise canceled altogether.
While Shell said that he was not involved in the decision as it happened ahead of the transaction, he supported it and called it the right move as late-night in its current form is not working.
“Late-night has a huge problem right now,” he said.
Shell noted that Colbert’s viewership is on par with that for his Late Show predecessor, David Letterman, meaning that the sprogram remains popular and culturally relevant.
“The problem is that 80% of the viewership and growing is on YouTube,” he said.
With YouTube paying “45c on the dollar,” “you can’t make it work economically anymore,” Shell added.
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