Breaking News
CBS Sells Television City; Y&R and B&B To Remain On Property For At Least Next Five Years
As it has been in the works for awhile,and on Monday news broke that the CBS Corporation reached an agreement to sell its 25-acre CBS Television City property including its soundstage operations, to real estate developer Hackman Capital Partners for $750 million.
Hackman Capital also acquired the rights to use the Television City trademark. The deal is expected to close by early 2019 on the historic property.
So what does this mean for your CBS soaps? Well, they aren’t losing their digs for quite some time!
According to the Hollywood Reporter, “CBS said that a handful of programs that film at Television City, including The Late Late Show With James Corden, The Young and the Restless, The Bold and the Beautiful and The Price Is Right, will continue being produced on the property for at least the next five years.”
In a statement Joseph Ianniello, president and acting CEO of CBS Corporation said “The sale of Television City unlocks significant value, increasing CBS’ financial flexibility, including the ability to redeploy capital for strategic growth initiatives such as additional content investment. At the same time, we will be transitioning this venerable site to a new owner who is committed to its legacy as both a cultural landmark and modern production facility. Hackman Capital has demonstrated terrific stewardship of classic properties, including their development of the landmark Culver Studios.”
So what do you think of the CBS selling TV City? Share your thoughts via the comment section below.
After five years, then what? They’ll either move the shows to a new location, or cancel them. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.
Cancel B&B, same repeated storylines. Bring back As The World Turns.
I don’t understand the reasoning behind doing it. The shows have to film somewhere.
I don’t live in Los Angeles but, having visited, I think I understand it. Television City seems to be in a prime real estate location in the middle of town. Nearby is the Farmer’s Market and an upscale retail/entertainment complex called the Grove. I think real estate in Los Angeles is unusually expensive and, given the size of Television City and it being in a desirable part of Los Angeles, the prospect of purchasing the lot surely would interest a developer.
There really is no reason that a television studio would need to be sited on such valuable property: Would the viewers really care if a show was filmed there or in a studio located on relatively less expensive property (say as in Pasadena)? Heck, if there was consistency in the sets, the viewers wouldn’t even notice. (I sure didn’t notice a visual difference when ATWT quit filming in the middle of Manhattan and moved to a studio in Brooklyn).
In addition to Y&R and B&B, I’m guessing that The Price is Right, The Late Late Show, and The Talk are all filmed in Television City. I’m not optimistic about the future of daytime serials but the mere selling of this property doesn’t automatically suggest to me that CBS will ax Y&R and B&Ba at the end of the 5-year post-sale period. (However, it certainly is plausible that the cost of moving the production of these shows might weight into that decision — especially if the ratings continue to dwindle).
The soaps, Price is Right, Dancing with the Stars (an ABC show) all lease space from CBS. CBS does not give them the studio just because the show airs on CBS. When each show’s contract is up, the shows will decide whether to stay at TV City or move to another studio such as Burbank where Days is taped. NBC sold its Burbank studios years ago. It, too, is owned by a Real Estate conglomerate. CBS needs the money for use elsewhere. CBS has Studio City where it’s local TV stations are located and other production facilities. This change will not affect Y&R or B&B.
I wouldn’t worry too much about the shows being impacted. Even after 5 years, development is likely to occur on the parking lot and back area that houses prep facilities.
Although it owned by CBS, Television City is also the home non-CBS shows like Dancing with the Stars and American Idol.
Breaking News
George Cheeks, CBS President & CEO, on Timeline to Launch New Daytime Drama, ‘The Gates’: “We’re So Focused on Getting it Right”
March 2024 will be remembered in the TV and soap world when the news broke that CBS is prepping a brand new daytime drama. Many had thought a major network would never bring a new daytime soap into the world, given that the last time it was attempted was 25 years ago when the now defunct Passions bowed on NBC.
However, The Gates is definitely in development and moving forward with some major players associated with it including: Michele Val Jean as The Gates writer, showrunner and one of its executive producers, and Sheila Ducksworth from NAACP Venture
Now, for the first time since its announcement, George Cheeks, the president and CEO of CBS and chief content officer for news and sports at Paramount+, spoke on the project that will feature a Black family as its central focus who live in a wealthy gated community.
Speaking with Vulture, and when asked if The Gates is really something that truly has a chance of getting on the air, Cheeks clarified, “It’s super real. And just to give you a little bit of the backstory, when we hired Sheila Ducksworth to run the NAACP Venture, she and I had multiple meetings talking about what different genres she was going to lean into, and we talked a lot about daytime.”
Cheeks added, “One of the things that the data made very clear to both of us is that daytime soap operas over index with Black women, and yet when you look at soap operas, it’s usually sort of a white-led family with supporting characters that reflect more of our society. So we just thought, wouldn’t it be interesting to flip that and make the core anchor family a Black family, and then make the other characters reflect more the broader scope of society?”
The CEO gave props to Michele Val Jean, and how Ducksworth came to the table with the former B&B and GH writer. “She found this great writer, Michele Val Jean, who’s been in the soap opera space for 30 years. She came up with a pitch, and we loved it,” shares Cheeks. “We brought Procter & Gamble into it as well, because if there were going to be (product) integrations, we could do it more holistically and organically. All of that is to say, we did a lot of work on the front end to put this together. So while yes, it’s development, it’s accelerated development.”
When prodded on the timeline of when The Gates could come to full fruition, Gates related, “The actual timeline and when we’re going to do it is still uncertain, because we want to get this right. I mean, there hasn’t been a new soap opera launch since I can’t even begin to tell you when. But we have great success with Bold and the Beautiful and Young and the Restless, and so we think we’re the right folks to be launching a new soap. I wish I could tell you more about exact timing, but we’re so focused on getting it right, and that will dictate when we’re ready to launch it.”
The CBS exec also shared that whether The Gates will wind up an hour soap or half-hour is not yet determined, but that it is being developed as an hour show.
So, after reading what George Cheeks, the CBS President & CEO had to say about ‘The Gates’, are you even more excited for what looks to the first new network soap in 25 years? Comment below.
Breaking News
Robyn Bernard, ‘General Hospital’s’ Terry Brock, Dead at 64
Breaking News
51st Annual Daytime Emmy Awards Announce Broadcast Date on CBS
The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (NATAS) revealed on Tuesday, that the 51st Annual Daytime Emmy Awards will be broadcast live on Friday night, June 7th (8 – 10 PM, ET/delayed PT) on the CBS Television Network, and available to stream live and on-demand on Paramount+*.
This year will mark the 18th time CBS has broadcast the Daytime Emmy Awards, which is more than any other network.
The 2024 Daytime Emmys will take place at the Westin Bonaventure in downtown Los Angeles. Back in December of 2023, the delayed 50th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards were also held at that venue. The June 7th date for the upcoming ceremony will be the first time in several years that the event is scheduled a few weeks earlier than normal; excluding last year’s revised date to the actors and writers strikes.
Lifetime Achievement honoree, nominations, host, and additional information will be announced in the coming weeks.
In a statement, Adam Sharp, President and CEO of NATAS noted, “We eagerly anticipate our return in June as we once again partner with CBS to recognize the exceptional and talented individuals who make daytime television great. We’re thrilled to kick off our second half-century of the Daytime Emmys.”
The Daytime Emmy Awards have recognized outstanding achievement in television programming and crafts since 1974, honoring work in a variety of categories, including daytime dramas, talk shows, instructional programming, hosting, culinary, and legal/courtroom programs. In 2021, NATAS and the Television Academy jointly announced plans to realign the Daytime and Primetime Emmy Awards to be organized by content genre, as opposed to program airtime.
The 51st Annual Daytime Emmy Awards will once again be produced by NATAS and Associated Television International (ATI), which produced Daytime Emmy Award ceremonies on The CW in 2009 and on CBS in 2010, 2011, 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023. Adam Sharp and Lisa Armstrong are executive producers from NATAS, while David McKenzie is executive producer from ATI.
So, glad to know that the 51st Annual Daytime Emmy Awards honoring performance and shows in the 2023 calendar year, will be held in early June this year, and once again broadcast on CBS? Comment below.
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