CBS Eyes Showtime Shows

NEW YORK, December 5: CBS is looking to its sister cable
network Showtime for content to help fill its prime-time schedule as the
writers strike continues in the U.S.

Speaking at the UBS Annual Global Media & Communications
conference yesterday, Leslie Moonves, the president and CEO of CBS Corporation,
cited the hit Dexter as being a likely
candidate for repurposing on the broadcast network—albeit, with some
edits. Weeds, Brotherhood and The Tudors are also being looked at by CBS programmers, according to reports.

Negotiations between writers and producers resumed yesterday
and were scheduled to continue today. The Alliance of Motion Picture and
Television Producers issued a statement at the end of the day yesterday noting
that the fallout from the strike thus far “is just the tip of an iceberg of
economic dislocation if an agreement cannot be reached before January. A long
strike is bad for writers and producers alike.… We owe it to our industry and
this community to engage in good-faith negotiations so we can reach a prompt
and just settlement…. We choose to remain hopeful, because the alternative is
simply too bleak to contemplate. It is in this light and spirit that we look
forward to the WGA leadership’s response today. Just saying “no” is not an
option. Together, we must find a way to say “yes.” We hope that kind of
progress can begin this week.”

Discussing the strike yesterday, Moonves said he was
“hopeful” that the end is near, adding, “I'm not terribly optimistic.
Obviously, we are quite far apart at this point."

—By Mansha Daswani