From Wayne Brady’s Improv Platform to CBS’ Streaming Pivot: 7 Key Takeaways From Variety’s Winter Entertainment Summit

variety.com:

Cynthia Littleton Business EditorIn media, it’s the age of optimization and personalization.How Hollywood harnesses technology to meet consumer demand for ever-more forms of content served up on an ever-widening array of platforms was the focus of Variety’s Winter Entertainment Summit, which ran virtually from Jan.

26-27. Industry insiders from a range of disciplines — from streaming content to live entertainment, technology and engineering to advertising and marketing — weighed in on the trends and hurdles that will shape the course of business in 2022.Here are seven key takeaways from Variety’s Winter Entertainment Summit:Navigating the Big PivotGeorge Cheeks, president and CEO of CBS and chief content officer of Paramount Plus, has been focused on the evolution of the Eye network and how CBS’ muscle can help bolster ViacomCBS’ streaming priorities, Paramount Plus and Pluto TV. “We’ve got to evolve the CBS brand from a linear-only network to a multi-platform content brand,” Cheeks said in his keynote conversation with Variety co-editor in chief Cynthia Littleton.

The good news is that CBS is also reaping the rewards of exposure from its younger streaming siblings.“There is a very clear sweet spot in terms of programming that does extremely well with the CBS linear audience, but finds a usually younger, unduplicated audience on streaming.

We saw that even years before with ‘Criminal Minds’ and ‘NCIS’ on Netflix, and we’re seeing that now with ‘The FBI’ and all the shows that we’ve now currently launched,” Cheeks says. “So in terms of the programming strategy for CBS, we look at it holistically.