NINA TASSLER PROMOTED TO CHAIRMAN, CBS ENTERTAINMENT
Top Entertainment Executive Signs New Deal Through 2017
STUDIO CITY, CALIF. - Feb. 20, 2014 - CBS Corporation (NYSE: CBS.A and CBS) announced that Nina Tassler has been promoted to Chairman of CBS Entertainment, and has signed a new agreement with the Company that extends through 2017. The announcement was made today by CBS Corporation President and CEO Leslie Moonves, to whom Tassler continues to report.
In this expanded role, Tassler will lead the Network's Entertainment programming across primetime, daytime and late night, as well as program development in all genres, including comedy, drama, reality, specials and long-form. She will direct a growing year-round programming portfolio that now includes a full slate of original series in the summer and a newly created limited series and live event program unit. Tassler will also oversee Entertainment division matters in advertising and promotion, business affairs, consumer products, digital/interactive, diversity, publicity, scheduling and research.
"Nina's creative instincts, programming savvy and leadership skills have helped form a hit-making machine that has fueled the Network's success and benefitted the Company's bottom line," said Moonves. "She's been a friend and colleague for 25 years, and I've witnessed first-hand the genuine and positive energy, as well as hands-on skills, she brings to every facet of the creative process. There are very few executives with her track record of consistently achieving high-level success in all forms of entertainment programming."
Under Tassler's leadership, CBS has been America's most watched network for 10 of the last 11 years. As President of Entertainment, she has introduced a steady supply of hit programs across all genres, including THE BIG BANG THEORY, HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER, THE GOOD WIFE, PERSON OF INTEREST, BLUE BLOODS, ELEMENTARY and the Emmy Award-winning UNDERCOVER BOSS.
Previously, as Senior Vice President of Drama Development for CBS, she developed the highly rated and commercially successful CSI and NCIS franchises.
Tassler has also helped the Network break new programming ground. Last summer, she introduced UNDER THE DOME, an event program that became the most watched scripted summer series in 21 years. Earlier this season, she created CBS's Limited Series & Live Event Programming unit, which already has multiple projects in development for next year, including the four-hour mini-series THE DOVEKEEPERS. Both UNDER THE DOME and THE DOVEKEEPERS are cross-divisional collaborations based on bestselling books from CBS Corporation's Simon & Schuster.
In addition, she has helped transition CBS's top-rated daytime schedule with successful launches for THE TALK and LET'S MAKE A DEAL, as well as with cross-daypart programming and promotional synergies for a lineup in which every show is growing in ratings.
Tassler joined CBS in August 1997 as Vice President, Drama, CBS Productions, before moving to the Network as Senior Vice President of Drama Development in 1998, eventually becoming President of Entertainment in 2003.
Before coming to CBS, Tassler headed drama development at Warner Bros. Television, where she helped develop successful series such as "ER."
Tassler currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Foundation and for the Jewish Family Services, and is a member of the Board of Trustees for Boston University (BU). She is a graduate of BU, majoring in Theater, and began her career assisting in all aspects of running the Roundabout Theater Company in New York. Tassler is married to director Jerry Levine and has two children, Matt and Alice.
About CBS Corporation
CBS Corporation (NYSE: CBS.A and CBS) is a mass media company that creates and distributes industry-leading content across a variety of platforms to audiences around the world. The Company has businesses with origins that date back to the dawn of the broadcasting age as well as new ventures that operate on the leading edge of media. CBS owns the most-watched television network in the U.S. and one of the world's largest libraries of entertainment content, making its brand - "the Eye" - one of the most recognized in business. The Company's operations span virtually every field of media and entertainment, including cable, publishing, radio, local TV, film, outdoor advertising, and interactive and socially responsible media. CBS's businesses include CBS Television Network, The CW (a joint venture between CBS Corporation and Warner Bros. Entertainment), Showtime Networks, CBS Sports Network, TVGN (a joint venture between CBS Corporation and Lionsgate), Smithsonian Networks, Simon & Schuster, CBS Television Stations, CBS Radio, CBS Outdoor, CBS Television Studios, CBS Global Distribution Group (CBS Studios International and CBS Television Distribution), CBS Interactive, CBS Consumer Products, CBS Home Entertainment, CBS Films and CBS EcoMedia. For more information, go to www.cbscorporation.com.
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