CBS News is making a big push into live events, The Hollywood Reporter has learned, with its CBS Sunday Morning show inking a deal with the 92nd Street Y in New York on a series of live interviews that will connect the TV program to the Upper East Side cultural institution.
The partnership, dubbed “CBS Sunday Morning At 92NY” will kick off Sep. 28 with correspondent Tracy Smith in conversation with Sylvester Stallone. The day before, Stallone will be interviewed by Smith on CBS Sunday Morning.
According to Rand Morrison, the executive producer of CBS Sunday Morning, the series will focus on actors, musician, politicians and others that can speak to the audiences of both the morning newsmagazine, and the Y’s loyal attendees.
“There’s a lot in common with the Sunday Morning viewership and the kinds of people who are interested in the live events at the 92nd Street Y,” says Morrison, in an interview with THR. “It’s good for whoever the performer is or whoever the political figure is, it’s good for the Y, and it’s good for us because it sort of extends our utility as a franchise, and so and so we wanted to try it.”
Indeed, the partnership marks a significant extension into events and experiences for CBS News, which, under editor-in-chief Bari Weiss, has wanted to move farther in that direction. Weiss launched a series of town halls called Things That Matter, with anchors and correspondents interviews high-profile guests in front of a live audience.
The 92nd Street Y partnership extends that further, with tickets available to the general public for the Stallone conversation starting today. As Morrison notes, at the Y, the audience is part of the conversation:
“It’s a smart, interested audience, so they have some clever questions, and it’s usually very enjoyable to get to hear from real people wondering about the person on stage,” he says. “We try our best to think of every question we can, and then someone in the audience has either a really thoughtful observation about what Sylvester Stallone managed to do in his young life, the unfolding of the Rocky story, or they just have an interesting question about his thoughts about the way how Hollywood is changing.”
The partnership will also serve as an extension of the show itself. The Y will stream the conversations live, and they will also become available to stream on CBS News streaming platforms and Paramount+ afterward. But Morrison also notes that they allow for a richer, deeper conversation with their guests.
“Our stories go long, but ultimately, we have 7, 8, 9, minutes. You can’t touch on everything,” he says.
And it could also be a template for future events. The 92nd Street Y may represent a certain type of intellectual New Yorker, but there are stories that could be told and interviews to be done all across the country.
“I hope that if this works, we can maybe go to other cities in the United States and do similar events,” Morrison says. “We’re starting local because it’s easy, and there was mutual interest on both sides to pull this off. Down the road it would be great to take our show on the road or go to St. Louis or Phoenix or Houston, and similarly have events that are gatherings like this where people can come and meet a Sunday Morning correspondent and listen to an interesting conversation.”
CBS Sunday Morning and the 92nd Street Y
CBS News
