CBS Forced to Explain Why There’s a Lack of Female-Led Shows This Fall
CBS is back in hot water after last year’s criticism that the network was lacking in diversity. This year, it’s experiencing the same sort of controversy.
The network’s fall lineup lacks women in leading roles, and CEO Leslie Moonves was quick to defend.
“We do a number of pilots, a lot of them have women in starring roles. There are a lot of women in the schedule, in this new schedule,” Leslie told reporters. “The best pilots went at the end of the day and we think our track record is OK… More women watch CBS percentage-wise than any other network so our shows have a lot of female appeal. I don’t think we’ve ever had to apologize for having Madam Secretary and Lucy Liu and [CBS All Access digital series] The Good Fight and [the since-canceled] The Good Wife and I think we do fine in that area.”
Leslie added: “When I look at the totality of who CBS is, I look at news, I look at daytime, I look at sports, I look at Showtime, I look at The CW — they’re all part of our family — and when you look at the totality of that, I think we’re fine in terms of the amount of women who are behind the camera [and] in front of the camera. I think we’re doing a very good job and I don’t think we’re looking in the wrong direction. On the contrary.”