CBS has pulled all clips of Late Show with David Letterman from its own website and from YouTube. This has prompted several furious postings on the Internet as well as a couple of complaints to me about how those ungrateful assholes at CBS have no respect for Dave's contribution or the devotion of his fans or something. One person wrote, "The second he's not making money for them, they couldn't care less about his work, those bastards."
Well, guess what. Everyone who thinks that way owes CBS an apology. CBS took the work down because they no longer control it. Their deal is over and Letterman's company Worldwide Pants now controls the digital rights to that material.
About once a year with some friend or acquaintance, I find myself in the awkward position of defending a big TV network that has been falsely accused. I have no love for those folks but I do not find them consistently evil or greedy or insensitive. Sometimes, sure. But sometimes when you think they've done something crappy to your favorite star or show, all they've done is abide by the contract with the star or show.
Sometimes too, they play Bad Cop for powerful stars or producers. A friend of mine was working on a show when suddenly, they were told, the network was demanding a major staff overhaul. A dozen or more people including my friend were suddenly terminated and told they had an hour or so to pack their belongings, pick up their final checks and leave the premises. It was very painful and, they felt, quite unfair. The Exec Producer — who was not among the ousted — agreed. He screamed about those slimeballs upstairs at the network, vowed to fight the decision…but ultimately, sadly, had to admit defeat.
Later, of course, my friend found out it was the Exec Producer who'd ordered the firings and gotten the network to take the blame for them. That kind of thing happens more often than you might think…though of course, networks folks are quite capable of being slimeballs on their own initiative.