CBS Said to Be Near Deal to Keep Letterman on Air Through 2014
January 15, 2012, 7:23 PM ESTBy Andy Fixmer
Jan. 13 (Bloomberg) -- CBS Corp. is near an agreement with David Letterman to keep the late-night talk-show host on the network through 2014, a person with knowledge of the talks said.
Letterman, whose current contract expires in August, would become the longest-running late-night host in television history, said the person, who wasn’t authorized to talk.
Letterman and Leslie Moonves, CBS chief executive officer, want the show to continue, the person said yesterday. “The Late Show With David Letterman” began in 1993, when the host moved to CBS after 11 years at NBC. The show averages 3.3 million viewers this season, second to NBC’s “Tonight Show With Jay Leno,” according to Nielsen Co. data. Letterman also produces “The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson” for CBS.
“As would be expected at this time, we’re having conversations with both Dave and Craig about future years,” Chris Ender, a spokesman for CBS Entertainment, said in an e- mail. “There are no further details to announce.”
Contract talks with Ferguson remain unsettled and the host may choose not to continue with the program, the New York Times reported yesterday.
CBS, based in New York, fell less than 1 percent to $28.08 yesterday at the New York close.
--Editors: Stephen West, Nick Turner
To contact the reporter on this story: Andy Fixmer in Los Angeles at afixmer@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Anthony Palazzo at apalazzo@bloomberg.net
