When Amy Reisenbach was named president of entertainment for CBS in November 2022, she brought two distinctive experience sets to the table.
First, she had spent nearly 20 years in CBS’s current department after being hired from Warner Bros. in 2005.
“Current is like boot camp,” Reisenbach said. “I think every executive should have worked in current on the creative side; you learn so much about what makes a show work and work on CBS. The current executive assigned to the show is the showrunner’s therapist, their worst enemy, their biggest champion, all the things. Showrunners understand that my passion is always that of a TV fan and I always want to function like that first.”
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Michelle King, creator and executive producer of Elsbeth, The Good Fight, The Good Wife and Evil, said: “She has a couple of superpowers. She is smart about story. Her notes are on target. She’s also very honest.”
Long-Term Mindset
The second is that Reisenbach is no stranger to long-term planning, a mindset she first learned from her father, Sandy, who ran marketing at Warner Bros. and led the planning of the studio’s tentpole theatrical rollouts. She’s using that skill to set CBS up for success several years down the road.
“When I became president of entertainment for CBS, I thought about how we could function a little more like that — thinking two to three years out,” Reisenbach said. “Longer-term planning gives us more time to develop shows differently.”
That strategy is already yielding results. Tracker, starring Justin Hartley, premiered in the plum time slot after the Super Bowl and is now primetime’s most-watched series with 20.4 million viewers tuning in across the live-plus-35-day viewing window. Elsbeth, starring Carrie Preston, is the season’s second-most watched new show (behind Tracker) and has been renewed for a second season.
Those performances helped lead CBS to its 16th straight year as TV’s most-watched network, averaging 5.6 million viewers per evening across live-plus-seven-day viewing, according to Nielsen.
She has a couple of superpowers. She is smart about story. Her notes are on target. She’s also very honest.”
Michelle King, creator/EP, ‘Elsbeth’
That skill set, plus Reisenbach’s overall enthusiasm for and intimate knowledge of the project, convinced CBS president and CEO George Cheeks (now part of parent Paramount’s office of the CEO) that she was right for the job before she even knew she was applying.
“The first time I actually got to interact with Amy was on a Zoom when she was head of current in April 2020,” Cheeks said. “My first instinct was, ‘She’s the person who should be president of entertainment for CBS.’ She has a genuine passion for our programming and a genuine respect for what we do. The more I’ve gotten to know her, the more I’ve thought she is the perfect partner.”
CBS Studios president David Stapf and Reisenbach have worked together for more than 20 years, dating back to when she was at Warner Bros. Television. Back in the day, Stapf worked for her father. Stapf used to be her boss; today, she’s his biggest client.
“The way that we communicate is sort of seamless,” Stapf said. “Amy is so smart and big-picture that it’s been an easy transition for me. She’s always been the sort of person, even before she was the head of current, that I and everybody went to to ask her what she thought and how she would approach things.”
‘A Creative Collaboration’
Stapf also identified a third skill set that he said is integral to Reisenbach’s success in her current role: “The number one quality you need is empathy and kindness. We are dealing with art and artists, people who are pouring their hearts and souls into their product. We aren’t dealing with people who are just making a widget. You have to recognize that it’s a creative collaboration yet an intimate endeavor.”
More of the same is on tap for CBS later this year and next with Matlock, starring Kathy Bates; Watson, starring Morris Chestnut; and a reboot of game show Hollywood Squares, starring Drew Barrymore, all on the slate.
“We all believe in what we are trying to do, which is put great shows on the air for a broad audience, and we’re succeeding,” Reisenbach said. “This team has come together during a really tough year, and everyone has stayed positive and had fun doing it. I believe if we have great culture in our halls, then the shows will benefit as well.”
