Moonves Quotes & Sayings

I feel like role models today are not meant to be put on a pedestal. But more like angels with broken wings. — Tupac Shakur

My wife is the host of 'Big Brother.' Her name is Julie Chen, and she'll say, 'Da da da, but first we do this.' So they mashed together her saying 'but first' a couple dozen times. Literally. In different outfits. And when you cut it together like that, it appears very robotlike. They called her the Chenbot. — Leslie Moonves

Nissa, you have a kind and bold heart, Follow it, and you will never go astray. — Brittany Oldroyd

We are at a time in our country's history that inclusive language is better than exclusive language. — Barack Obama

It is too soon to tell, but old, tired 'Survivor' last night beat 'X Factor.' We're really proud of that. We're anticipating a very strong season for CBS. — Leslie Moonves

The people who live and lead with the most joy and contentment are those who have clarity about their priorities. They know what they do best and fill their days with more of those activities. — Michael Hyatt

I read the papers, I surf the Web. At the beginning of the year, I try to see at least two episodes of every show on our network. Am I surfing? All the time. I'm aware of the landscape. I'm a competitor, so I have to know whom I'm competing with. — Leslie Moonves

News, by and large, has been the purest of all the television mediums, or at least we've tried to keep it that way, and there constantly is the argument about the separation between church and state. — Leslie Moonves

There are plenty of people who are willing to pay $2.6 million for 30 seconds on the Super Bowl and hundreds of thousands of dollars for 'American Idol.' There will be advertising dollars on the Internet. We're there as well. We win either way. — Leslie Moonves

You won't see Moonves on Twitter. — Leslie Moonves

I think many years from now, people will still watch television, though it will probably be 150 inches wide. What will change is the ability to get 'CSI' not only on TV but also on the Internet, even watching it in a foreign country as it's playing in the U.S. — Leslie Moonves

Before the start of the 2000 season, 'C.S.I.' wasn't supposed to be the hit. We all thought it would be 'The Fugitive.' — Leslie Moonves

We think wireless is going to grow tremendously. Do I think people are going to watch an episode of 'Survivor' on a 2-inch television set? I doubt it. But I do think somebody's going to go to a grocery store in the middle of a football game and watch that game. — Leslie Moonves

I take great pride in all the tremendous success we've enjoyed at CBS. And the good news is that I feel even more enthusiastic about what my terrific team and I will accomplish going forward. — Leslie Moonves

Never liked history much, at least as it was relayed to him in school. It sounded too much like a brochure, everything neatly laid out and painfully obvious in retrospect. Every war had its bullet-pointed causes; every megalomaniac dictator was so cartoonishly evil you wondered how stupid the people of the past had to be, not to notice. — Cassandra Clare

I was one of the first to read the 'ER' script and the good news is George Clooney still gives me credit for helping to launch his career. I had George Clooney under contract for four years in a row before 'ER' happened. He's one of the few who remembers the people who helped him. — Leslie Moonves

A handful of soldiers is always better than a mouthful of arguments. — Georg C. Lichtenberg

I am broadcaster's biggest cheerleader because I genuinely believe in it. Where else can you get 20 million people a week watching 'NCIS' or 'American Idol?' Where else can you get 120 million watching the Super Bowl? — Leslie Moonves

Ultimately journalism has changed ... partisanship is very much a part of journalism now. — Leslie Moonves

Man is a mistake. He must go. — D.H. Lawrence

Broadcast TV is still the mothership and it will be for the foreseeable future. Audiences may be declining slightly but revenues are going up and profits are going up. — Leslie Moonves

CBS is the largest out-of-home advertising company in the U.S. — Leslie Moonves

The reason I've been able to maintain my position of chairman of CBS in addition to all the Viacom stuff is my team. — Leslie Moonves

As the TiVos and the Replays are coming into our world - and they're coming - it's better to - be inside the tent and figure out what they're doing and to work hand in hand with them as opposed to saying, 'You know what, the automobile is not going to work. I'm going to stick to my horse and carriage,' you know. — Leslie Moonves

Broadcasting for advertisers is still the best game in town, and they know it. Look, I admire a lot of the shows on cable. I think 'Mad Men' is wonderful. I think 'Breaking Bad' is wonderful. But let's remember they're about one-tenth the audience of NCIS. — Leslie Moonves

I think Les Moonves is the most highly overrated person in television. — Donald Trump

We realize that if we live in a world that depends totally on CBS, we'd be dead. — Leslie Moonves

Do I believe the execution will work out? Les Moonves said yes to Survivor based partly upon my show Eco-Challenge. He liked my way of filming outdoors. It was the first use of helicopters on a documentary with the gyro-stabilized lenses. And a certain beauty of filming, allowing the drops to fall from a leaf into a puddle, allowing a spider to weave a web. Taking the breath to allow that to happen rather than showing scene after scene. — Scott Raab

Everything you have is on loan. Foolish is the one who gets attached to a loan. — Yasmin Mogahed

My mind wanders and I drift off into La-La Land. I dream about Thalassic City. About opportunity. And second chances. About actually living. — Siobhan Davis

The stories about broadcast dying or it being overtaken by cable have stopped. Same goes for the stories about the Internet hurting our business. — Leslie Moonves

Rebuilding a network is a slow, brick-by-brick process. It's not just creating a hit show - it's building shows to back up that hit show; it's creating an identity of success so that people want their shows on your network. — Leslie Moonves

I understand why creative people like dark, but American audiences don't like dark. They like story. They do not respond to nervous breakdowns and unhappy episodes that lead nowhere. They like their characters to be a part of the action. They like strength, not weakness, a chance to work out any dilemma. — Leslie Moonves

It's the quiet little hit that is succeeding totally under the radar, ... NCIS. — Leslie Moonves

CBS is proud to have been the home of David Letterman since 1993. He is truly one of the great talents of our time, and we hope things work out. — Leslie Moonves

By the same token, I think news has more and more of a pro bono aspect to all the networks. When we do our election coverages throughout this coming year, it's not a money-maker for us. It is more of a public service situation. — Leslie Moonves

We have CBS, we have our stuff on iTunes. We feel the wave of the future is getting as much distribution as we can. We feel that we should be nonexclusive and get our content out there. — Leslie Moonves