It's that CBS-VHI Grammy synergy all over again. CBS-owned television stations and VHI are teaming up for the second time on CBS and VHI: Live at the Grammys, a three-hour pre-show extravaganza the two will produce to run just before the CBS network's coverage of the awards ceremonies Feb. 21 at 8 p.m. P> In other signs of corporate synergy (CBS and VHI are new sister TV outlets under Viacom), the special will be hosted by CBS talent, Family Law's Tony Danza and King of Queens' Leah Remini, with VH1's Rebecca Rankin acting as a correspondent.
Comedy Central cutup Jon Stewart plays host for the awards ceremony. Stewart, sardonic star of The Daily Show, will steer musical performances by Christina Aguilera and Destiny's Child and arguably the night's most anticipated act: a duet between Eminem and Elton John.
Top market takers among CBS stations, some taking just a portion of the available syndicated hour for Live at the Grammys, include WCBS-TV New York (7:30 p.m.-8 p.m. ET), KCBS-TV Los Angeles (going from 6:30 p.m.- 8 p.m. PT with some of their own added coverage), and WBBM-TV Chicago (6:30 p.m. - 7 p.m. CT).
VHI's three hours of Live at the Grammys will, of course, feature the celebrity arrivals plus backstage talk with trophy presenters, 5 p.m. - 8 p.m. (ET/PT). Barbara Ann Chacon, CBS Television Stations' vice president of production, and Bill Brand, VH1's vice president of programming and production, are executive-producing the special. Susanne Ault
