CBS

Original programs aired on CBS All Access included Star Trek: Discovery, The Good Fight, and Big Brother: Over the Top.

In December 2018, the service was launched in Australia under the name 10 All Access, due to its affiliation with CBS-owned free-to-air broadcaster Network 10. Due to local programming rights, not all content is shared with its U.S. counterpart, whilst the Australian version also features numerous full seasons of local Network 10 shows, all commercial-free.

It was announced in September 2020 that the service would be rebranded as Paramount+ in early 2021, and would feature content from the wider ViacomCBS library following the re-merger between CBS and Viacom. The name was also extended to international markets and services such as 10 All Access. The rebrand to Paramount+ took place on March 4, 2021.

CBS HD

CBS's master feed is transmitted in 1080i high definition, the native resolution format for CBS Corporation's television properties. However, seven of its affiliates transmit the network's programming in 720p HD, while seven others carry the network feed in 480i standard definition either due to technical considerations for affiliates of other major networks that carry CBS programming on a digital subchannel or because a primary feed CBS affiliate has not yet upgraded their transmission equipment to allow content to be presented in HD. A small number of CBS stations and affiliates are also currently broadcasting at 1080p via an ATSC 3.0 multiplex station to simulcast a station's programming such as WNCN through WRDC in Durham, North Carolina, WTVF through WUXP-TV in Nashville, and KLAS-TV through KVCW in Las Vegas, Nevada.

CBS began its conversion to high definition with the launch of its simulcast feed CBS HD in September 1998, at the start of the 1998–99 season. That year, CBS aired the first NFL game broadcast in high-definition, with the telecast of the New York Jets–Buffalo Bills game on November 8. CBS gradually converted much of its existing programming from standard definition to high definition beginning with the 2000–01 season, with select shows among that season's slate of freshmen scripted series being broadcast in HD starting with their debuts. The Young and the Restless became the first daytime soap opera to broadcast in HD on June 27, 2001.

CBS's 14-year conversion to an entirely high-definition schedule ended in 2014, with Big Brother and Let's Make a Deal becoming the final two series to convert from 4:3 standard definition to HD (in contrast, NBC, Fox, and The CW were already airing their entire programming schedules – outside of Saturday mornings – in high definition by the 2010–11 season, while ABC was broadcasting its entire schedule in HD by the 2011–12 midseason). All of the network's programming has been presented in full HD since then (except for certain holiday specials produced before 2005 – such as the Rankin-Bass specials – which continue to be presented in 4:3 SD, although some have been remastered for HD broadcast).

On September 1, 2016, when ABC converted to a 16:9 widescreen presentation, CBS and The CW were the only remaining networks that framed their promotions and on-screen graphical elements for a 4:3 presentation, though with CBS Sports' de facto 16:9 conversion with Super Bowl 50 and their new graphical presentation designed for 16:9 framing, in practice, most CBS affiliates ask pay-TV providers to pass down a 16:9 widescreen presentation by default over their standard definition channels. This continued for CBS until September 24, 2018, when the network converted its on-screen graphical elements to a 16:9 widescreen presentation for all non-news and sports programs. Litton Entertainment continues to frame the graphical elements in their programs for Dream Team within a 4:3 frame due to them being positioned for future syndicated sales, though all of its programming has been in high definition.

Branding

Logos

The CBS television network's initial logo, used from the 1940s to 1951, consisted of an oval spotlight which shone on the block letters "CBS". The present-day Eye device was conceived by William Golden, based on a Pennsylvania Dutch hex sign and a Shaker drawing. While the logo is commonly attributed to Golden, some design work may have been done by CBS staff designer Georg Olden, one of the first African-Americans to attract some attention in the postwar graphic design field. The Eye device made its broadcast debut on October 20, 1951. The following season, as Golden prepared a new "ident", CBS President Frank Stanton insisted on keeping the Eye device and using it as much as possible. Golden died unexpectedly in 1959, and was replaced by Lou Dorfsman, one of his top assistants, who would go on to oversee all print and on-air graphics for CBS for the next 30 years.

The CBS eye has since become a widely recognized symbol. While the wordmark has been changed, the Eye device itself has never been redesigned. As part of a then-new graphical identity created by Trollbäck + Company that was used by the network during the 2006–2007 network television season, the eye was placed in a "trademark" position on show titles, days of the week and descriptive words, an approach highly respecting the value of the design. The logo is alternatively known as the "Eyemark", a branding used for CBS's domestic television syndication division, under the Eyemark Entertainment name, in the mid-to-late 1990s after Westinghouse Electric bought CBS, but before the King World acquisition (which Eyemark was folded into), and subsequent merger with Viacom; Eyemark Entertainment was the result of the merger of MaXaM Entertainment (an independent television syndication firm which Westinghouse acquired shortly after its merger with CBS in 1996), Group W Productions (Westinghouse Broadcasting's own syndication division), & CBS Enterprises (CBS's syndication arm from the late 1960s to the early 1970s).

The eye logo has served as inspiration for the logos of Associated Television (ATV) in the United Kingdom, Canal 4 in El Salvador, Televisa in Mexico, France 3, Latina Televisión in Peru, Fuji Television in Japan, Rede Bandeirantes and TV Globo in Brazil, and Canal 10 in Uruguay.

In October 2011, the network celebrated the 60th anniversary of the introduction of the Eye logo, featuring special IDs of logo versions from previous CBS image campaigns being shown during the network's primetime lineup.

CBS historically used a specially-commissioned variant of Didot, a close relative to Bodoni, as its corporate font until 2021.

1980s

CBS has developed several notable image campaigns, and several of the network's most well-known slogans were introduced in the 1980s. The "Reach for the Stars" campaign used during the 1981–82 season features a space theme to capitalize on both CBS's stellar improvement in the ratings and the historic launch of the space shuttle Columbia. 1982's "Great Moments" juxtaposed scenes from classic CBS programs such as I Love Lucy with scenes from the network's then-current classics such as Dallas and M*A*S*H. From 1983 to 1986, CBS (by now firmly atop the ratings) featured a campaign based on the slogan "We've Got the Touch". Vocals for the campaign's jingle were contributed by Richie Havens (1983–84; one occasion in 1984–85) and Kenny Rogers (1985–86).

The 1986–87 season ushered in the "Share the Spirit of CBS" campaign, the network's first to completely use computer graphics and digital video effects. Unlike most network campaign promos, the full-length version of "Share the Spirit" not only showed a brief clip preview of each new fall series but also utilized CGI effects to map out the entire fall schedule by night. The success of that campaign led to the 1987–88 "CBS Spirit" (or "CBSPIRIT") campaign. Like its predecessor, most "CBSpirit" promos utilized a procession of clips from the network's programs. However, the new graphic motif was a swirling (or "swishing") blue line that was used to represent "the spirit". The full-length promo, like the previous year, had a special portion that identified new fall shows, but the mapped-out fall schedule shot was abandoned.

For the 1988–89 season, CBS unveiled a new image campaign officially known as "Television You Can Feel", but more commonly identified as "You Can Feel It On CBS". The goal was to convey a more sensual, new-age image through distinguished, advanced-looking computer graphics and soothing music, backgrounding images, and clips of emotionally powerful scenes and characters. However, it was this season in which CBS saw its ratings freefall, the deepest in the network's history. CBS ended the decade with "Get Ready for CBS", introduced with the 1989–90 season. The initial version was an ambitious campaign that attempted to elevate CBS out of last place (among the major networks); the motif centered around network stars interacting with each other in a remote studio set, getting ready for photo and television shoots, as well as for the new season on CBS. The high-energy promo song and the campaign's practices saw many customized variations by all of CBS's owned-and-operated stations and affiliates, which participated in the campaign per a network mandate. In addition, for the first time in history, CBS became the first broadcast network to partner with a national retailer (in this case, Kmart) to encourage viewership, with the "CBS/Kmart Get Ready Giveaway".

1990s

For the 1990–91 season, the campaign featured a new jingle performed by the Temptations, which featured an altered version of their hit "Get Ready". The early 1990s featured less-than-memorable campaigns, with simplified taglines such as "This is CBS" (1992) and "You're on CBS" (1995). Eventually, the promotions department gained momentum again late in the decade with "Welcome Home to a CBS Night" (1996–1997), shortened to "Welcome Home" (1997–1999), and succeeded by the spin-off campaign "The Address is CBS" (1999–2000), whose history can be traced back to a CBS slogan from the radio era of the 1940s, "The Stars' Address is CBS". During the 1992 season for the end-of-show network identification sequence, a four-note sound mark was introduced, which was eventually adapted into the network's IDs and production company vanity cards following the closing credits of most of its programs during the "Welcome Home" era.

2000s

Throughout the 2000s, CBS's rating resurgence was backed by the network's "It's All Here" campaign (which introduced updated versions of the 1992 sound mark used during certain promotions and production company vanity cards during the closing credits of programs); in 2005 campaign introduced the slogan "Everybody's Watching", the network's strategy led to the proclamation that it was "America's Most Watched Network". The network's 2006 campaign introduced the slogan "We Are CBS", with Don LaFontaine providing the voiceover for the IDs (as well as certain network promos) during this period. In 2009, the network introduced a campaign entitled "Only CBS", in which network promotions proclaim several unique qualities it has (the slogan was also used in program promotions following the announcement of the timeslot of a particular program). The "America's Most Watched Network" was re-introduced by CBS in 2011, used alongside the "Only CBS" slogan.

2020s

In October 2020, CBS announced that it would begin to employ a more unified branding between the network and its divisions to strengthen brand awareness across platforms. The two main components of the rebranding are a "deconstructed eye" motif using the individual shapes of the eyemark (such as an animated station ID), and a five-note sound trademark developed by the audio design agency Antfood, phonetically resembling the "This is CBS" slogan.

Alongside the rebranding, CBS Television Studios was renamed CBS Studios, and CBS Television Distribution was renamed CBS Media Ventures. The network also dropped the "America's Most Watched Network" and "Only CBS" taglines, with chief marketing officer Michael Benson explaining that "it's tough to unify if you're bragging about yourself." Due to its programming being licensed to third-party streaming services, CBS programming began to carry a CBS Studios production logo based on the ident when applicable, and are billed with "CBS Original" or "CBS Presents" (specials) bylines in promotional material.

As part of the rebranding, CBS News and CBS Sports also introduced new logos and imaging incorporating the deconstructed eye motif, sonic branding, and corporate typeface, with CBS News initially using it for coverage of the 2020 presidential election, and CBS Sports launching its rebrand ahead of Super Bowl LV in 2021. In December 2022, CBS News and Stations began to deploy the branding on the local news operations of CBS's owned-and-operated stations, with most now being branded as "CBS News (region)" to align themselves with CBS News and its chain of local streaming news channels (with some exceptions in markets with heritage station brands, such as KPIX), and adopting new graphics and music incorporating the eye motif and sound mark (replacing Frank Gari's "Enforcer" music package, which was based on a theme historically used by WBBM-TV).

On September 9, 2018, The New Yorker reported that six additional women (in addition to the six original women reported in July) had raised accusations against Moonves, going back to the 1980s. Following this, Moonves resigned the same day as chief executive of CBS.

Second Trump administration

In 2025, some accused CBS of capitulating to the second Donald Trump administration, allegedly in part to gain federal government approval for the Skydance–Paramount merger.

In April, in response to a lawsuit filed by Trump, 60 Minutes editor Bill Owens resigned, saying "he no longer has control of the show."

On July 17, Stephen Colbert announced that his show, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert would be canceled effective May 2026 at the conclusion of his current contract, and that the entire Late Show franchise would be retired at that time. While CBS stated that the decision was "purely financial", many were skeptical, since the decision came shortly after Colbert had publicly called CBS's $16 million settlement to Trump "a big fat bribe", the pending Skydance merger was approved soon after by the FCC, and Trump publicly celebrated the show's cancellation. Other late night hosts spoke out in support of Colbert, with several appearing in cameo roles on the July 20 episode of The Late Show to offer their support.

On January 14, 2026, CBS reported that Jonathan Ross, the ICE agent who shot Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis, suffered internal bleeding to the torso after the incident. A CBS staffer who was unauthorized to speak publicly said, "It was viewed as a thinly veiled, anonymous leak by [the Trump administration] to someone who'd carry it online." Forbes, The Guardian and Mediaite reported that there was "huge internal concern" at CBS News over running that news report.

Postponed CECOT story

On December 21, CBS postponed a 60 Minutes report on the CECOT prison in El Salvador three hours before it was due to air. A CBS News spokesperson said the segment "needed additional reporting." The New York Times reported that Sharyn Alfonsi, who reported the segment, wrote that the segment had been "screened five times and cleared by both CBS attorneys and Standards and Practices"; Alfonsi called the postponement a "political" decision.

Peter Attia resignation over involvement in Epstein files

In February 2026, Peter Attia, who joined as part of a new contributor group in January, resigned after U.S. Justice Department documents revealed past email exchanges with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.