By AMOL SHARMA
Turner Broadcasting System Inc.'s TBS cable network next year will begin showing later rounds of the U.S. men's college basketball tournament, including the semifinals known as the "Final Four," as part of a new arrangement with CBS Corp.CBS +1.02% to divide up coverage in coming years.
Time Warner Inc.'s TWX +1.43% Turner and CBS have been jointly telecasting the 67-game National Collegiate Athletic Association tournament since 2011. Turner, whose networks have shown only games from the first three rounds thus far, will show half of the quarterfinal games and both Final Four games on TBS in 2014 and 2015; CBS will continue to broadcast the National Championship game in those years.
Earlier
- Cable Awaits the Final Four 4/7/13
After that the companies will start a rotation that will last through 2024: TBS will telecast the Final Four and the Championship in all even years, starting with 2016, while CBS will show those games in odd years.
Major sporting events such as the NCAA men's basketball tournament are hugely valuable to networks and advertisers because they command big live audiences at a time when viewers increasingly watch other programs on-demand or on DVRs that can skip over ads. Tournament games, especially later rounds, are routinely among the highest rated TV programs. This year, tournament games attracted an average of 10.7 million viewers, the highest level in 19 years.
David Levy, president of sales, distribution and sports at Turner Broadcasting System, praised the "seamless collaboration" between CBS and Turner. CBS Sports Chairman Sean McManus called the new deal a "win-win arrangement."
For CBS, the cost-sharing in the Turner deal has turned what was once a money-losing franchise for the network into a profitable one.
Turner's greater role in televising late-round tournament games continues a trend of large sporting events moving from broadcast TV to cable. In recent years "Monday Night Football," college football's Bowl Championship Series and golf's British Open were among the other big events that have made the shift to cable.
Some analysts say there is a risk that viewers accustomed to watching the NCAA Final Four and Championship on broadcast TV won't all switch over to cable, lowering the ratings. That would hurt both Turner and CBS, since they split advertising revenue regardless of who is televising those games. But other analysts say it is more likely that fans will find the later round games on cable easily.
Turner and CBS say they are encouraged by the strong viewership thus far of earlier-round games on the Turner networks including TBS, TNT and truTV.
Time Warner is banking on Turner's suite of cable networks to help propel double-digit increases in coming years in the fees it charges pay-TV distributors. Carrying more highly watched sports content will put Turner in a stronger position as it enters negotiations with cable and satellite operators, analysts say.
No comments:
Post a Comment