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View Full Version : NCAA championship game on TBS & future TV deals



Olympic Fan
04-10-2016, 08:16 PM
This topic came up on the UNC scandal thread and rather than take that one off topic, I hope the mods will allow me to start a new thread to address the issue.

What the hell was CBS thinking, moving the NCAA championship game from CBS to TBS?

I blame the network, not the NCAA, since the organization gets its billions no matter what the platform.

But what was CBS thinking?

It's not like the NCAA Tournament has been a drag on its ratings. On the contrary, it's one of the biggest draws in the network's possession.

A year ago, the Duke-Wisconsin title game drew an 18-year high rating of 7.9 -- with an all-time high of 20-million live streams. It was the highest rated network show of the month and the 11th highest rated program of the year.

This year's game on TBS drew a 4.5 rating - still better than anything on the networks that night.

CBS offered an evening of reruns, starting with The Big Bang Theory (a 1.6 ratings), another Big Bang (this one a 1.5), Scorpion (1.0) and NCS-Los Angeles (a 0.8 rating).

Don't ratings determine network ad revenues? Does the fact that April 4 in not a sweep period mean that CBS can benefit from giving up 6 points of TV ratings for two hours in prime time?

I am honestly confused. Can anybody else explain why CBS would move one of its most valuable properties -- one it literally paid billions to get -- to a cable platform?

scottdude8
04-10-2016, 08:31 PM
I don't believe it was up to CBS. I believe this was part of the deal to get thr Turner networks on board for their joint bid for the tourney, as ESPN was making a large money bid to broadcast on all four of their networks. CBS needed a partner to do the same, thus TBS, TNT and Tru. The cable networks only agreed to be in if they got to eventually broadcast the final.

Someone please correct me if I'm wrong but that was my understanding of the situation.

-jk
04-10-2016, 08:33 PM
I think it was more "sleep with dogs, arise with fleas" sort of thing. CBS couldn't singly compete with ESPN and its host of outlets, so they partnered with TBS/TruTV. TBS insisted on getting some final fours...

(Dang, sleeping on the post...)

-jk

throatybeard
04-10-2016, 10:31 PM
Kaley Cuoco is really pretty...

SCMatt33
04-10-2016, 11:55 PM
I think it was more "sleep with dogs, arise with fleas" sort of thing. CBS couldn't singly compete with ESPN and its host of outlets, so they partnered with TBS/TruTV. TBS insisted on getting some final fours...

(Dang, sleeping on the post...)

-jk

The other thing to consider is that this CBS/Turner deal is also what saved us from a 96-team tournament back in 2010 that was seen as inevitable right up until the moment this was announced. I will gladly take the final four on cable every other year given that alternative.

Olympic Fan
04-11-2016, 02:06 AM
Thanks for all the input.

I have to say that I was under the mistaken impression that CBS and Turner were under the same corporate umbrella. I forgot that the deal to merge the two empires fell through a few years ago. You guys are right, putting the Final Four on TBS this season was part of the payoff CBS made to get Turner aboard to steal the tournament from ESPN/ABC.

That doesn't mean I like it, but it makes sense now.

lotusland
04-11-2016, 05:55 AM
Why would TBS need a payoff? Shouldn't they just be happy to get to broadcast some games? WTH else would they be broadcasting if not tournament games?

Indoor66
04-11-2016, 07:52 AM
Why would TBS need a payoff? Shouldn't they just be happy to get to broadcast some games? WTH else would they be broadcasting if not tournament games?

Re-runs of Happy Days?

wilson
04-11-2016, 07:55 AM
Why would TBS need a payoff? Shouldn't they just be happy to get to broadcast some games? WTH else would they be broadcasting if not tournament games?


Re-runs of Happy Days?Everybody Still Loves Raymond.

throatybeard
04-11-2016, 09:30 AM
BBT. We've been over this. They show like eight episodes of that per day.

JasonEvans
04-11-2016, 09:37 AM
Why would TBS need a payoff? Shouldn't they just be happy to get to broadcast some games? WTH else would they be broadcasting if not tournament games?

To be clear, CBS and TBS are sharing the costs of the broadcast rights. They pay $770+ million a year for the NCAA tourney (a 14-year, $10.8 bil contract that was signed in 2010) and I have heard that CBS and TBS share almost equally in that cost. The first few years, the Final Four was always on CBS, but starting this year it alternates every year. So this year was TBS, next year will be CBS, then back to TBS in 2018... and so on until the contract is done in 2024. CBS wanted a broadcast partner and TBS was willing to pay $350+ mil a year to be it. There was no way they would fork out that cash without getting the Final Four at least some of the time.

The NCAA has recently reopened negotiations with CBS/TBS with an eye toward extending the deal another 8 years, until 2032. The NCAA is hoping to get the annual payout up to $900+ mil per year, though CBS and TBS seem reluctant. I don't blame them. I frankly have no idea how we will consume our entertainment programming by 2024, let alone 2032... but I suspect television may be a very different beast at that point.

-Jason "compared to TNT and ESPN paying $2.7 bil a year to broadcast NBA games, the NCAA tourney is a bargain at $770 mil a year... and I believe it gets better ratings too" Evans

elvis14
04-11-2016, 09:43 AM
To be clear, CBS and TBS are sharing the costs of the broadcast rights. They pay $770+ million a year for the NCAA tourney (a 14-year, $10.8 bil contract that was signed in 2010) and I have heard that CBS and TBS share almost equally in that cost. The first few years, the Final Four was always on CBS, but starting this year it alternates every year. So this year was TBS, next year will be CBS, then back to TBS in 2018... and so on until the contract is done in 2024. CBS wanted a broadcast partner and TBS was willing to pay $350+ mil a year to be it. There was no way they would fork out that cash without getting the Final Four at least some of the time.

The NCAA has recently reopened negotiations with CBS/TBS with an eye toward extending the deal another 8 years, until 2032. The NCAA is hoping to get the annual payout up to $900+ mil per year, though CBS and TBS seem reluctant. I don't blame them. I frankly have no idea how we will consume our entertainment programming by 2024, let alone 2032... but I suspect television may be a very different beast at that point.

-Jason "compared to TNT and ESPN paying $2.7 bil a year to broadcast NBA games, the NCAA tourney is a bargain at $770 mil a year... and I believe it gets better ratings too" Evans

I'm glad Jason "I know more about this than elvis14" Evans has facts because I was just assuming they moved it because it was UNCheat (disgraced program that shouldn't be promoted) vs. Villanova (thank you Wildcats but does anyone outside of Philly follow your program?).

I think the ratings for the Cheater/Cuse game were very very low. This doesn't have any bearing on this discussion, really, I just like to mention it because...9F

JasonEvans
04-12-2016, 04:00 PM
To be clear, CBS and TBS are sharing the costs of the broadcast rights. They pay $770+ million a year for the NCAA tourney (a 14-year, $10.8 bil contract that was signed in 2010) and I have heard that CBS and TBS share almost equally in that cost. The first few years, the Final Four was always on CBS, but starting this year it alternates every year. So this year was TBS, next year will be CBS, then back to TBS in 2018... and so on until the contract is done in 2024. CBS wanted a broadcast partner and TBS was willing to pay $350+ mil a year to be it. There was no way they would fork out that cash without getting the Final Four at least some of the time.

The NCAA has recently reopened negotiations with CBS/TBS with an eye toward extending the deal another 8 years, until 2032. The NCAA is hoping to get the annual payout up to $900+ mil per year, though CBS and TBS seem reluctant. I don't blame them. I frankly have no idea how we will consume our entertainment programming by 2024, let alone 2032... but I suspect television may be a very different beast at that point.

-Jason "compared to TNT and ESPN paying $2.7 bil a year to broadcast NBA games, the NCAA tourney is a bargain at $770 mil a year... and I believe it gets better ratings too" Evans

And just like that... we have a new TV deal (http://variety.com/2016/tv/news/ncaa-march-madness-cbs-turner-1201751521/).


The two media companies will pay a whopping combined total of $8.8 billion for the right to provide live coverage of the popular tournament across any new-media platform, including any new ones that might develop over the life of the contract. And, despite low ratings for a championship game this year that was televised on cable for the first time in history, the NCAA said live coverage of the Final Four national semifinals and national championship will continue to alternate between CBS and Turner each year. CBS will broadcast the games in 2017 and Turner’s TBS will televise them in 2018.

So, the old deal was for $770 mil per season. This deal is for $1.1 bil a year... wow!

-Jason "the 2015 tourney netted $1.19 bil in advertising... but college basketball isn't business that fails to pay its employees a dime" Evans

sagegrouse
04-12-2016, 05:06 PM
As posted on ESPN (http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/15190549/ncaa-tournament-deal-cbs-turner-extended-2032), the current deal with CBS and Turner will now extend through 2032. Sorry for those who wanted ESPN to take over.

hallcity
04-12-2016, 06:31 PM
Does anyone know when the higher revenues will begin -- 2017 or after the end of the old contract, which I think was 2026? Starting it next year significantly increases ACC revenues next year.

toooskies
04-12-2016, 07:15 PM
Does anyone know when the higher revenues will begin -- 2017 or after the end of the old contract, which I think was 2026? Starting it next year significantly increases ACC revenues next year.

I read it as an extension on the back end of the existing contract.

Note that, if they divided the $1.1B per year to each men's basketball player at each school (15 per team, 351 D1 schools), you get $208,900+ per student-athlete. In 2026 dollars, that may still even pay for tuition.