As families have been stuck inside their homes for the better part of a year and with many more months of that still to come, some NFL broadcasts are trying to make their parents’ favorite game a bit more accessible to their small children (as long as they don’t ask when players go into the blue tent). For its penultimate broadcast of the season, ESPN’s “Monday Night Football” has enlisted the Muppets to kick off the broadcast tonight. Next month, ViacomCBS will go the extra mile (I guess we should say “yards”) with a completely separate kids-focused broadcast of an NFL playoff game for Nickelodeon. It’s Spongebob-meets-football. CBS Sports chairman Sean McManus told TheWrap that offering a dual, kids-focused broadcast was a major factor in CBS getting one of the two extra playoff games this year (NBC got the other one). Nickelodeon’s game will be an Afc matchup on Sunday,...
- 12/21/2020
- by Tim Baysinger
- The Wrap
CBS is prepared to “do what is necessary” to hang on to its NFL rights. That was the message sent by CBS acting CEO Joe Ianniello and CBS Sports chief Sean McManus Thursday during CBS’ fourth-quarter earnings call.
Ianniello and McManus both talked up the virtues of having the NFL on broadcast TV, which remains ubiquitous even in a fragmented media landscape. CBS’ deal for its Sunday afternoon package of Afc games runs through 2022, and already there is much speculation in media and Wall Street circles about CBS and other broadcasters vying against digital behemoths in the next round of NFL rights talks.
McManus said he believes the NFL will continue to “strongly value and prioritize the reach of broadcast television” as it considers options for new rights deals. Big-ticket sports and event rights are seen as crucial to the survival of linear TV, which still has an advantage over...
Ianniello and McManus both talked up the virtues of having the NFL on broadcast TV, which remains ubiquitous even in a fragmented media landscape. CBS’ deal for its Sunday afternoon package of Afc games runs through 2022, and already there is much speculation in media and Wall Street circles about CBS and other broadcasters vying against digital behemoths in the next round of NFL rights talks.
McManus said he believes the NFL will continue to “strongly value and prioritize the reach of broadcast television” as it considers options for new rights deals. Big-ticket sports and event rights are seen as crucial to the survival of linear TV, which still has an advantage over...
- 2/14/2019
- by Cynthia Littleton
- Variety Film + TV
CBS acting CEO Joe Ianniello, CFO Christina Spade and CBS Sports Chairman Sean McManus made the company’s case to Wall Street analysts on the fourth-quarter earnings call despite results that fell short of analyst expectations.
Record results show the 90-plus-year-old mainstay is on the right track, Ianniello maintained, with upgraded streaming targets now forecasting 25 million domestic streaming subscribers by 2022. The split is roughly 50-50 between CBS All Access and Showtime, the acting boss said, though the company has reported only a combined number. Despite the positive signs, with the company just emerging from a period of intense turbulence, analysts focused questions on a number of unknowns. Topics ranged from NFL rights to strategy around streaming versus broadcast or owned IP versus licensing, and progress by the company’s newly constituted board of directors.
Ianiello fielded one question about that most evergreen of topics: a potential reunion with Viacom, given...
Record results show the 90-plus-year-old mainstay is on the right track, Ianniello maintained, with upgraded streaming targets now forecasting 25 million domestic streaming subscribers by 2022. The split is roughly 50-50 between CBS All Access and Showtime, the acting boss said, though the company has reported only a combined number. Despite the positive signs, with the company just emerging from a period of intense turbulence, analysts focused questions on a number of unknowns. Topics ranged from NFL rights to strategy around streaming versus broadcast or owned IP versus licensing, and progress by the company’s newly constituted board of directors.
Ianiello fielded one question about that most evergreen of topics: a potential reunion with Viacom, given...
- 2/14/2019
- by Dade Hayes
- Deadline Film + TV
CBS will retain rights to air one of the most-watched events in professional golf under an 11-year deal that will bring ESPN into the mix as a partner and end an association with At&T’s Turner Sports.
CBS, ESPN and ESPN’s new streaming service, ESPN+, will combine to deliver more than 175 cumulative hours of live coverage of the PGA Championship, which is moving to May in 2019. Terms of the contract were not disclosed.
The new agreement is expected to start in 2020. CBS Sports will get to show an additional hour of the event on Saturday and Sunday, while ESPN plans to use its ESPN+ service to cover all 72 holes. “We’ve had a successful partnership with the PGA of America for many years, including continuous innovations throughout our portfolio that have greatly enhanced the experience for golf fans,” Turner Sports said in a statement. “We wish them all the best in their future pursuits.
CBS, ESPN and ESPN’s new streaming service, ESPN+, will combine to deliver more than 175 cumulative hours of live coverage of the PGA Championship, which is moving to May in 2019. Terms of the contract were not disclosed.
The new agreement is expected to start in 2020. CBS Sports will get to show an additional hour of the event on Saturday and Sunday, while ESPN plans to use its ESPN+ service to cover all 72 holes. “We’ve had a successful partnership with the PGA of America for many years, including continuous innovations throughout our portfolio that have greatly enhanced the experience for golf fans,” Turner Sports said in a statement. “We wish them all the best in their future pursuits.
- 10/10/2018
- by Brian Steinberg
- Variety Film + TV
NEW YORK -- Rick Kaplan, the legendary producer and former president of CNN and MSNBC, will be named executive producer of the CBS Evening News With Katie Couric.
Sources said late Wednesday that Rome Hartman, who had been named producer of the broadcast in late 2005, would be replaced by Kaplan as early as today. Hartman, a former 60 Minutes producer and a favorite of CBS News president Sean McManus, will be reassigned to another high post at CBS News.
CBS News declined comment late Wednesday.
Sources said McManus made the decision and not Couric, who also is managing editor of the broadcast, though she was aware of it happening. The broadcast's third-place ranking in the ratings was a major factor in the decision, and the network wants a harder-edged, faster-paced newscast than has been seen in the six months since Couric took to the air.
The announcement marks the return to network television of one of its most accomplished producers.
Sources said late Wednesday that Rome Hartman, who had been named producer of the broadcast in late 2005, would be replaced by Kaplan as early as today. Hartman, a former 60 Minutes producer and a favorite of CBS News president Sean McManus, will be reassigned to another high post at CBS News.
CBS News declined comment late Wednesday.
Sources said McManus made the decision and not Couric, who also is managing editor of the broadcast, though she was aware of it happening. The broadcast's third-place ranking in the ratings was a major factor in the decision, and the network wants a harder-edged, faster-paced newscast than has been seen in the six months since Couric took to the air.
The announcement marks the return to network television of one of its most accomplished producers.
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