MUMBAI: After airing for over four decades since 1968 in the US on CBS the US Open tennis Grand Slam will have a new home from 2015.

ESPN has signed a 11 year contract with USTA for the event. The new deal also includes the series of North American summer hard-court tournaments leading up to the Open.

Since 2009, ESPN has shown some matches, with CBS airing six days of coverage during the two weeks, including the men?s and women?s singles finals.

ESPN will air the event from 2015- 2025. The broadcaster also expects that its digital platforms will mean more viewership for the event. It doesn?t feel that the move from broadcast to cable will affect viewership of the event.

ESPN president John Skipper said, "Certain sporting events become synonymous with when they are held, and there is no better - or bigger - way to celebrate the end of summer than at the US Open in New York. We look forward to capturing every match, every star, every championship and all the drama on this grand stage."

USTA executive director, COO Gordon Smith said, "ESPN is the strongest brand in sports. It puts the US Open at the center of American sports culture like never before."

ESPN will continue to be the home of the entire US Open in Latin America and the Caribbean and in Canada on TSN, as it has since 2002. The new agreement brings expanded rights and increased programming hours, as in the US - both on the multiple linear TV channels throughout these regions and on digital platforms.

ESPN also will become the exclusive home to the Emirates Airline US Open Series with 72 hours of action in the five-week summer series leading to the US Open. In addition, ESPN will now present Arthur Ashe Kids? Day, the music and tennis festival geared to families that serves as the unofficial kick off of the two-week tournament, on the weekend prior to the main draw tournament?s Monday start.

MUMBAI: The number one US broadcast network CBS in its upfront presentation has announced five new comedies and three new dramas. The number of new shows is fewer than competitors as 20 shows have been renewed.

One of the big new shows touted was ?Hostages? from Jerry Bruckheimer. It is a suspense drama starring Toni Collette as a premiere surgeon thrust into a chilling political conspiracy when her family is taken hostage by rogue FBI agent Duncan Carlisle (Dylan McDermott). Dr. Ellen Sanders (Collette) and her family are held captive in their home by Carlisle, who orders her to assassinate the president (James Naughton) when she operates on him.

This is the only new drama that will air during the fall. After the season finale of ?Hostages? in January, ?Intelligence? will occupy that time slot. It is about a high-tech intelligence operative enhanced with a super-computer microchip in his brain. CBS is also airing four new comedies in the fall - two on Monday, two on Thursday. This strategy has worked well for it. At the same time it puts it in direct competition with NBC which has also beefed up its comedy slate. Comedy CBS has said is a priority for it. One comedy is ?We Are Men? starring Kal Penn, Tony Shalhoub and Jerry O?Connell as a motley crew of neighbors of a young guy (Chris Smith) in an apartment complex.
 
Actor Robin Williams? comedy ?The Crazy Ones? will air on Thursdays at 9.00 pm. It also closed out the upfront presentation. Williams an co-star Sarah Michelle Gellar play father/daughter ad executives.

The 20 shows that have been renewed include ?The Big Bang Theory?, ?Mike and Molly? and ?2 Broke Girls?. ?How I Met Your Mother? will return for a final season, with viewers finally getting to meet and know the mother.

?Person of Interest? will move to Tuesdays at 10.00 pm. ?Hawaii Five-0? will move from Mondays to Fridays. After ?The Big Bang Theory? a new comedy ?The Millers? starring Will Arnett will air.

CBS president and CEO Les Moonves during the pre upfront press conference said that the broadcaster beats its broadcast competition by 4 - 5 million viewers and will finish the season as the number one network among adults 18-49 demographic for the first time in more than 10 years.
 
He took potshots at competitors saying, ""Anybody who spends 20 minutes talking about multiplatform at their upfront does not have much else to sell,"

Talking about drama he noted that the place for this genre is in primetime not at 7.00 am and at 11:30 pm. Midseason will see the premiere of a new legal drama ?Reckless?.

One of the surprises at the upfront was an appearance by talk show host David Letterman.

MUMBAI: US broadcaster CBS has announced that ?Criminal Minds? has been renewed for the 2013-2014 broadcast season.

The show is currently in its eighth season and it has become CBS?s 20th series to be renewed for the next year.
 
The show is about an elite team of FBI profilers who analyse the country?s most twisted criminal minds. It stars Joe Mantegna, Thomas Gibson and Shemar Moore.

MUMBAI: Big CBS Love has lined up a special treat for its viewers this summer - titled ?Friday Evenings with Oprah?.

Starting 10 May, the weekly special will include the best episodes from The Oprah Winfrey Show. It will air at 8 pm.

The idea behind these specials is to club together theme based shows which are topical in nature each month. Ensuring they resonate with audiences, the shows touch on a wide variety of topics from relationships, intimacy, sex, why men cheat, how foolproof is your marriage and more.
 
Big CBS Networks business head Anand Chakravarthy said, "It is a delight to bring back a personality like Oprah Winfrey to television screens. With this weekly special, we aim to provide our viewers with wholesome entertainment and touch upon universal themes which are sure to strike a chord with audiences. Oprah is an icon to millions and we are confident our viewers will appreciate our efforts to bring them the best of the most popular talk show. At the same time it is an exciting opportunity for marketers and advertisers to connect with their target audiences."