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NewsSeptember 28, 2005

Ten years ago, CBS was a mess. It had alienated its core audience in an attempt to attract younger viewers. It lost NFL broadcasts, which took much of the network's valued male demographic with it. Meanwhile, NBC was on its way to becoming a powerhouse with its Thursday night "Must See TV" lineup of "Friends," "Seinfeld," and "ER."...

Ten years ago, CBS was a mess. It had alienated its core audience in an attempt to attract younger viewers. It lost NFL broadcasts, which took much of the network's valued male demographic with it. Meanwhile, NBC was on its way to becoming a powerhouse with its Thursday night "Must See TV" lineup of "Friends," "Seinfeld," and "ER."

But then Les Moonves came on board and so began the network's dramatic resurrection.

That was the message of Bob Aguanno, a CBS affiliate executive who spoke to the Tri-State Advertising & Marketing Professionals at its monthly luncheon meeting in Cape Girardeau.

Aguanno is KFVS12's affiliate representative who handles affiliates throughout the Midwest. KFVS12's Dan Timpe is president of the advertising club this year. He said that Aguanno was scheduled to visit the station, so they scheduled his trip around the meeting.

Aguanno started out at NBC, before working at ABC and now CBS. He called Moonves' turnaround of the network a remarkable feat.

In 1995, Moonves was brought in to run the CBS entertainment division. Moonves had been an executive with Warner Bros.' television division, where he helped launch shows like "Friends" and "ER."

"Now he was going to be responsible for competing with shows he helped create," Aguanno said. "He did it the right way, one show at a time, one night at a time, one season at a time."

Moonves worked hard at getting back CBS' core audience. One of the first things he did was talk Bill Cosby into doing a sitcom on CBS. While the show never was phenomenal in the ratings, Aguanno said it helped re-establish CBS as a legitimate player to attract stars for their shows.

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Then, Moonves decided to move a "little show that had been bumped around quite a bit" to follow Cosby's show. It was called "Everybody Loves Raymond."

In 1998, Moonves helped recapture the NFL, getting rights to AFC games, Aguanno said.

"That brought the men back into the tent," Aguanno said.

In 2000, Moonves green-lighted a show called "Survivor" that became a smash hit. Later, he moved "Survivor" and "CSI" to square off against NBC's "Must See TV" shows like "Will and Grace" and "Friends."

"That was really the beginning of the end for 'Must See TV,'" he said.

Now, CBS is ranked No. 1 in the ratings, "across the board," Aguanno said.

smoyers@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 137

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