CBS Acting CEO Joe Ianniello Praise Super Bowl Effort Of Company

The final numbers for the lowest scoring Super Bowl in the NFL’s history aren’t in yet but CBS top man has already declared victory.

In a memo sent out company-wide this afternoon, Acting CEO Joe Ianniello was full of praise for a day of programming that was “first class, both in front of and behind the camera.”

Just days after a board meeting for a company still seeking a permanent replacement for disgraced ex-CEO Les Moonves and angling towards new talks on a merger with Viacom, Ianniello attended Super Bowl LIII along with corporate queen Shari Redstone and several other CBS execs.

Though the New England Patriots’ 13-3 win over the Los Angeles Rams was a grinder of a game and had a 10-year low in early ratings, CBS pulled off a “tight and seamlessly flowing offering” in its first Super Bowl since 2016, as I mentioned this morning

Take a look at Ianniello’s full memo on the “spectacular” effort below:

Hi everyone. We should all be very proud of our Company today. I certainly am.

Very few media companies have the ability to pull together an audience of 100 million viewers with a single program like we did yesterday. And while not everyone enjoys a defensive battle like they do an offensive one, the Super Bowl is always a cultural event, and CBS’ production was first class, both in front of and behind the camera.

Beyond the game, our Super Bowl platform allowed us to debut the new primetime series THE WORLD’S BEST to more than 22 million viewers, as well as another terrific highly rated special episode of THE LATE SHOW with STEPHEN COLBERT. It also gave us the opportunity to showcase the journalism excellence of CBS News, which was highlighted by a special edition of FACE THE NATION.

Yesterday was also a huge success for our digital and streaming platforms. CBS Interactive achieved record signups for CBS All Access and record-setting live streams. And we debuted a buzzworthy new promo for CBS All Access with Jordan Peele for THE TWILIGHT ZONE, which will premiere Monday, April 1.

We were also fortunate to have teams in Super Bowl LIII from two major markets where we own stations. In Los Angeles, KCBS posted its highest Super Bowl rating ever, and Boston’s WBZ delivered its most-watched Super Bowl ever.

Our ad sales teams brought in hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue, including new record-breaking highs for 30-second spots in the game.

All of this comes in the same week that SHOWTIME announced it has passed an all-time high of 27 million subscribers, and in 2019, Simon & Schuster has already had 41 New York Times bestsellers and growing.

On Super Bowl Sunday, all parts of CBS came together in spectacular fashion. It was another great example of the strength of CBS and the quality of the people who work here. Everyone in the Company plays a role each and every day, and yesterday it was on display for the world to see.

Thank you,

Joe