CBS executives were needled with numerous questions about diversity during a heated presentation at the Television Critics Association’s summer press tour on Tuesday.
“CBS has been so successful with broad appeal, and we want to continue down that path,” senior executive vice president of programming Thom Sherman told reporters.
He pointed out that the network did develop female-led shows last year, although all six of the series picked up feature male leads, and five of those stars are white, with the exception being Shemar Moore on “S.W.A.T.”
“The way things turned out, those pilots were not felt to be as good as some of the other series that were picked up,” he said.