Heading into the Grammy ceremony on Monday, we caught up with CBS’s live program President Jack Sussman, who gave us the lowdown how they’re approaching this year’s ceremony.

Some of the West Coast channels will be airing it live followed by a replay in primetime. Does every viewer count toward the primetime ratings?
It is a cumed rating so if you decide to watch at 5 o'clock in the afternoon, you count as much as someone who turns it on at 8.

The show has run over the last two years. Any concern about keeping it 8-11:30 ET due to the Monday late-night programs?
We’re trying to keep it tight. We want to get the show on on the West Coast as early as possible so that it starts right at 8:30. Our job is to get done on time.

With the deaths of so many prominent artists, does it feel like you could—or even should—devote significant time to remembering musicians we lost?
There are major performers worthy of extensive performances to be done—not necessarily to memorialize them, but to celebrate the lives of these amazing musicians who had such a great impact on our lives. I don’t know that I would just put on an In Memoriam package that listed everybody who died. We can take members of our music community that we lost in the last year and celebrate them with people who grew up with them or were influenced by them.

You announced Bowie and B.B. King; there’s been talk of Allen Toussaint and Natalie Cole...
You have to pick your spots. Nobody is better than Ken Ehrlich at putting 10 lbs. of potato salad in a 1 lb. container. So you figure out how we get the most we possibly can get while celebrating the last year in music.

Is there a point at which tributes could become too much?
It’s all about the repertoire. We can’t wait until next Sunday night to book the show. You make commitments and we believe in the people we've committed to. We never disinvite someone. But if we need to, we can call an audible with a week or a few days to go.

You’re promoting the first hour of the show with list of names that starts with Taylor Swift. So you have a show opener and running order that everyone is happy with. What’s CBS’ role in determining that?
Just like any other decision in the show. We don’t always agree when the conversations start with Neil [Portnow], Ken and myself; we often have a difference of opinion about the positives and negatives of just about every big decision. In terms of running order and music selection, we weigh in heavily. Everyone’s heard and we make a joint decision that everyone will be respectful of when we take it to our respective places.

Gaga will be doing the Super Bowl and the Grammys. Would Bruno Mars be allowed on the show or is there any sort of exclusivity because of the Super Bowl?
That’s all about appearances before before the Super Bowl—it’s not an issue. It’s about letting an artist do what they want to do at the Grammys vs. what they have to to do at the Super Bowl. Even with Lady Gaga singing the national anthem. It was something she had to think about, knowing she was going to do this monstrous Grammy performance.