Early in May, CBS released a fall schedule filled with scripted series such as The Neighborhood, NCIS, Young Sheldon, and S.W.A.T as well as many others. With the writers’ strike still ongoing and a potential actors’ strike looming, the network was looking at a mostly empty fall lineup.
Now, CBS is refocusing its fall schedule to be mostly unscripted, reality-based series to fill the scripted slots. The network is going to rearrange some of its summer programming for the fall season. Some popular shows, like Big Brother, Survivor, Amazing Race, and others will have their summer schedules shift over to the fall season.
Sources report George Cheeks, CBS’ President and CEO as well as Paramount+’s Chief Content Officer of News and Sports, saying:
“Obviously, it’s going to be very reality-heavy. Our core summer franchises, starting with Big Brother, are all going to slide into August, which will leave them into November.”
Big Brother usually starts airing new episodes around the end of June or the beginning of July. Now it’s slated to begin its next season on August 2nd and run through November. Joining the series on Wednesday nights are Survivor and Amazing Race. Wednesdays on CBS have long been filled with reality programming however, the network is going to have to flesh out the rest of the week
CBS also plans to air specials for The Price Is Right and Let’s Make A Deal, which Cheeks says “actually do quite well in primetime.” He went on the state CBS is looking to get another four reality shows ready for the fall, possibly more.
To add some scripted flare to the mix, CBS is considering adding some Paramount+ originals. “We’re spending a lot of time looking at research and figuring out which are the ones that have the best shot keeping our audience engaged but also that could really help drive awareness,” said Cheeks.
He declined to elaborate on which series CBS is eyeing, leaving audiences with some surprises to look forward to this fall. Deadline speculates SEAL Team and Evil are likely to make the jump back to CBS from Paramount+, as that’s where the series originally debuted.
Check back with Cord Cutters News as a more cemented CBS fall schedule is released.