CBS chief executive Les Moonves has said that his network's drama slate will beat Jay Leno's new 10pm show on NBC "by a lot".

Leno, who will hand over hosting duties on the iconic Tonight Show to Conan O'Brien on May 29, will begin broadcasting a new talk show stripped across the week at 10pm in the fall. In that timeslot, The Jay Leno Show will face competition on broadcast TV from drama on ABC and CBS and local programming - including newscasts - on Fox, CW and non-affiliated stations.

In remarks made at the UBS Global Media and Communications Conference in New York, Moonves said: "I would bet anyone who would like to bet that CSI: Miami will beat Jay by a lot. Remember: by a lot."

He hit back at NBC chief Jeff Zucker's downbeat assessment of American broadcast TV on Monday, and told the conference's attendees: "I'm here to tell you the model ain't broke. You can still make a lot of money in network television. We like 10 o'clock shows."