Campbell Brown Quotes

The truth is, we have this idea that late night is about creativity and being cool, but that's not our job. Our job is to get as many people watching the commercials in between our show. That's the reality of it.

I really like the way Fox handles their shows.

'Emeril' came on the air right when a new president of NBC was taking over, and there was just a big shift going on. And then 9/11 happened, and that really pretty much killed it, because the show was already having a hard time finding an audience. I don't regret it. I had a really good time.

Rarely in broadcasting history has so much been riding on the whimsical flick of a few thousand wrists.

Every single television product has the ambition to chase ratings, every one of them. Many have other ambitions, for many, ratings are not #1. But my experience on TV, and on the entertainment side, has been entirely ratings-based. When I look at TV I look at ratings. And I never second guess ratings. Never.

TV always wants more people to be watching.

Obviously, SNL has a lot of viewers, but the potential for a movie is through the roof.

I've been in television for a little bit, and when people are attracted to what you've created, you get very excited because of the numbers. The business side is very exciting.

Whether you're talking about MSNBC or Fox or CNN, it's all about getting enough interest out there, sensationalizing the story in such a way that people are compelled to tune in.

It is too soon to tell, but old, tired 'Survivor' last night beat 'X Factor.' We're really proud of that. We're anticipating a very strong season for CBS.

Year Two is a critical year for any television show.

It seems to me we are losing our way in an effort to get the ratings.

You can have a great script, and it can be a great show, but for whatever reason, it just doesn't take the public's interest.

Obviously sex and nudity sells, but that's what people go to cable for but that's not going to happen on network daytime television... so I think it really is always going to come down to story. How do you make a story interesting enough so people will tune in? That's always going to be it.

TV producers want ratings and are willing to do nearly anything to get them. They gin up artificial conflicts and create an urgency for even the most minor of economic data points.

In television you go in with this operating system that it is a crapshoot.

The key measurement will not be how many people are watching the Univision network. But, believe me, I still think we are going to grow and are shooting for No. 1, and that spot is certainly on our radar. But engagement will be the focus and the main measure.

You're in the business - when you're a writer, producer, director - to get ratings.

Back in 1975, we were making all the decisions about what people were going to watch.

I don't know why it was canceled, but 'Mancuso, FBI,' it should have had a good long run, but it wasn't picked up. Maybe there was a problem with me. I have no idea.

NBC gives comedies a chance to find their legs.

Nobody really knows what makes a hit TV show.

What I can say that's different in American television... in Britain, they wouldn't cancel something after a couple of episodes. In the States they would. They would just decide it's not working, take it off and put something else in on the fall schedule.

I've often talked about that, and I've been asked that a couple of times and my feeling are that if you have a good show, a bad host will not even hurt the show.

A hit show takes Hollywood magic indeed, but it also takes a lot of math and science, plus the study of polls and trends to make and sell a TV show.