Interview: CBS Studios International’s Armando Nuñez

NEW YORK: Armando Nuñez, the president of CBS Studios International (CBSSI), talks to World Screen about the new shows the company has to offer.

On the heels of much positive reaction from buyers at the L.A. Screenings, Nuñez is heading to MIPCOM with “a very unique and diverse lineup,” as he describes the programming slate that ranges from Elementary and Vegas to the shows for The CW, Emily Owens, M.D. and Beauty and the Beast.

Elementary is a modern take on Sherlock Holmes, set in present day New York City. “Jonny Lee Miller is a brilliant casting choice to play Sherlock Holmes and takes the character in a different direction, so is Lucy Liu as Watson,” says Nuñez, referring to the first time that a remake of the iconic British tale has made the character of Watson a woman.

“We’ve had incredible reaction from buyers to our programming for The CW,” Nuñez adds. “The series Emily Owens and Beauty and the Beast skew young but are also for a broader audience.”

Nuñez and his team are also constantly renewing deals for CBS returning product. “Hawaii Five-0 has become quite popular internationally and is getting very good ratings in markets like Germany, France, Italy and Spain. It’s one of the top shows on Sky in the U.K.,” he explains. “This business is not only about the content that we work hard to get to the right broadcaster in the initial sales, but it’s also about the returning content [such as] the CSI franchise. We had many disappointed clients around the world about the cancellation of CSI: Miami.”

And, of course, NCIS continues to be a powerhouse. It is the number one scripted series in the U.S. and was recently named Europe’s top imported drama show in 2011 by Digital TV Research, Madigan Cluff and Essential Television Statistics. NCIS is also the number one series on M6 in France. This year, it has ranked among the top 10 U.S. series that aired in Australia, Canada, Germany, Italy, Poland and the U.K.

Another study from Digital TV Research showed that CBSSI was Europe’s top distributor of imported drama series in 2011.

With the changing television landscape, linear broadcast, cable and satellite channels are no longer the only acquirers of CBS product. Over-the-top (OTT) and subscription video on demand (SVOD) services have provided new venues for CBS product. “They have absolutely opened up new opportunities for the distribution of our content,” says Nuñez. “Our mantra at CBS is obviously not only to take advantage of the licensing opportunities that are out there, but to do it in a smart and strategic way. Not just grabbing the few bucks that might be here or there, but doing it in a way that is complementary—licensing and windowing our content so that we are not hurting the subsequent value of that content. It’s not just about selling that first window; it’s about windowing the content. When we have successful content, what do we do? We sell it again and again and again. Our library is a perfect example; we have content in our library that is 50 years old that we are still selling over and over and over again.”

Besides distributing programming from CBS Television Studios, CBS Television Distribution, Showtime, CBS News and CBS Films to some 200 countries around the world, CBSSI also participates in a number of international channel ventures. Chellomedia, a subsidiary of Liberty Global, and CBSSI operate CBS-branded channels—CBS Reality, CBS Drama and CBS Action—in the U.K and in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. CBSSI is also a partner in Elevenco in Australia, a joint venture with Ten Network, and the TV1 Channels partnership with NBCUniversal and Sony; and in India, where it is part of BIG CBS, a joint venture with Reliance Broadcast Networks.

Nuñez is well aware of the challenges broadcasters are facing, due to the tough economic climate, especially in Europe. “Notwithstanding that, there is still a very healthy strong demand for our content,” he says. “The reality about the challenges that Europe has gone through this year is that it’s still much more cost effective to acquire our content than to produce shows locally. I’m not saying it’s an either-or situation, the big broadcasters obviously do both, but you know what you’re getting with the acquisition of American content and you certainly know what you get with the acquisition of CBS content.”