CBS’ Amy Reisenbach On New Long-Term Development Strategy: “Pilot Season Is Probably Dead For Us”

deadline.com:

For the first time this year, CBS did not order any pilots during the traditional pilot season window. And it may not be the last. “Pilots aren’t dead, I would say pilot season is probably dead for us because why should we be held to that very specific window anymore, nobody else is,” CBS Entertainment President Amy Reisenbach said during the network’s unveiling of its 2024-25 schedule. “We only get so many shots at bat, let’s make sure when we take those swings that the bases are fully loaded for us.” As Reisenbach revealed in a Q&A with Deadline in January, CBS has shifted to a long-term development strategy of making series pickup decisions well in advance to allow for better planning and longer marketing runway.

All of CBS’ new scripted series for 2024-25 were locked in by end of January. RELATED: George Cheeks Addresses Paramount Global Shakeup, Company Morale At CBS Schedule Reveal “As we said over and over, we do long-term development at CBS now,” Reisenbach said today, using the announcement of Fire Country spinoff Sheriff Country‘s series order for 2025-26 as an example.

Making the pickup decision now, “will give us plenty of time to cast it, to figure out how we want to produce it, give it scheduling time, marketing time.

It’s a huge opportunity for us, and it speaks to the kind of development we want to be doing right now,” Reisenbach said. RELATED: ‘Blue Bloods’ Future Is Sealed: The Long-Running Series Will Wrap For Good In December George Cheeks, CEO of CBS, spoke about how the recent budget cuts across linear TV, including broadcast, has informed the new strategy as well as renewal decisions which now often come with budget reductions. “Obviously linear ad revenue has declined.