CBS chief: Failed Leno/NBC experiment boosted CBS

Host Jay Leno gestures during a panel for his upcoming television series ''The Jay Leno Show'' at the Television Critics Association Cable summer press tour in Pasadena, California in this August 5, 2009 file photo.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - CBS entertainment chief Nina Tassler said on Saturday that the No. 1 U.S. television network had reaped advertising benefits from rival NBC's decision to move comedian Jay Leno to prime time in place of scripted drama.

Tassler said the 2009-10 TV season overall showed that scripted drama and comedy still had a place on network television and that NBC's experiment with the Leno show had failed.

"We have to realize that ABC, Fox and CBS all fared very well during this experimental phase for NBC," said Tassler, whose CBS Corp network is the most-watched in the United States with the hit crime franchises "CSI" and "NCIS" and top comedy "Two and a Half Men."

Tassler said NBC's controversial decision to put Leno, who had a long run on NBC's late-night show, on in the 10 p.m. prime-time hour "allowed (CBS) to get a bigger piece of the ad revenue pie at 10 p.m."

"It has been a good year," she said. "'NCIS' is the most watched show on the planet with its success on CBS, in syndication and overseas. It has been a really great season for network TV."

General Electric Co's NBC switched Leno to 10 p.m. in September in a controversial move to cut costs for the network, which is on bottom of the four leading TV networks.

But "The Jay Leno Show" has fared poorly in the ratings and NBC was widely reported this week to be abandoning the experiment and planning to switch Leno back to his traditional late-night turf.

"It is an experiment that obviously did not work," Tassler said. "For us there is no substitute for developing, producing and watching great shows".

"For NBC to say that this is a reflection on the whole of the network business is misguided," she said, saying that Walt Disney Co's ABC, and News Corp's Fox had come up with vital new comedies in "Modern Family" and "Glee" respectively.

NBC executives are expected to be questioned by TV reporters about the future of "The Jay Leno Show" on Sunday.

CBS is currently the most watched U.S. network with an average audience of 11.6 million viewers, followed by ABC (9.1 million), Fox (8.7 million) and NBC (7.6 million)

(Reporting by Jill Serjeant; Editing by Bill Trott)