Playbill_Trash said: "I was scratching my head also at first with the split between 2 platforms, but my question still came back to, what is on the CBS Sunday night schedule between 7-9pm that they couldn't spare air time for?
I don't know all the details, but 9/26 could be the week of September sweeps, and they could have already committed airtime to season premieres of previously announced shows before Broadway's return was ever in the picture.
Sunday at 7 is always 60 minutes on CBS, so at 8 it could be the season premiere of The Equalizer? Or a different previously announced show?
From the Tonys end, starting at 7 was always the case with the technical awards starting an hour before the 8pm broadcast - and then more performances spread out throughout the night. So it comes down to CBS and their air time. The League and American Theatre Wing always said they wanted to coincide the awards this year with the re-opening of all running shows, so this could have just been a result of a negotiation / compromise / scheduling requirements on both ends / working with previous agreements of air time?
Tonys wanted September/near the opening of most shows, CBS found a time that fit within their previously sold air time, and this is the result?
The extra step of getting a free-trial of a streaming service is annoying and frustrating, but given what the conversations may have been between producers and network execs, it sounds like they did what they could?
Either that or we could #cancelLesleyStahl"
What the f**k does Lesley Stahl have to do with anything?? (yes I know she's a contributor on 60 Minutes). Your rant is missing the point of why CBS is using Paramount +. The Tonys have always delivered a small but dedicated audience that fits the targeted demographic of their platforms perfectly. Just as Hamilton drew millions of customers to sign up for Disney + and then never bothered to cancel it because they liked what they saw (or were just too lazy to cancel), the Tonys will deliver a nice chunk of new customers who otherwise might never have thought to sign up for it, who will try it out and then either choose to stay (or not bother to cancel). It's all about the marketing!