DisneyWar Highlight

Besides, he didn’t think CBS would be willing to pick up the production costs, and if Disney pulled out, the show would die, creating a hole in the CBS lineup. Braun was ordered to call Bruckheimer and pull the plug. The unflappable Bruckheimer took the news calmly. He was disappointed but gracious. But Eisner and Iger underestimated his determination, and that of Les Moonves, the head of CBS. Instead of dropping “CSI,” as they had anticipated, CBS lined up another producer, Alliance Atlantis Communications, which presold some foreign rights to raise $800,000 per episode, an amount that nearly covered the projected deficit. CBS financed the rest, minimizing the potential loss. CBS placed “CSI” as the centerpiece of its Friday night schedule for fall 2000.