CBS News 24 Hour Streaming Network Launches In October

According to TVNewser, CBS News' brand new digital network will be launching in October. The channel has been promoted heavily by Les Moonves and it's being headed by CBS News president David Rhodes. TVNewser's report also states that "CBS This Morning" senior producer Mosheh Oinounou and Nancy Lane, the head of editorial at CBSNews.com, are responsible for hiring and are doing most of the candidate interviews.

CBS is looking to have a staff of around 60 people for the launch, including interactive, technical and editorial, many plucked from current cable TV news ranks.

News of this new venture broke almost a year ago at the end of last October. Peter Lauria of BuzzFeed said at the time that:

• the service would be distinct from other CBS News-branded shows, websites and apps
• the service was a coalition between CBS News and CBS Interactive (CNet etc.)
• it would be available for "streaming for smartphones and tablets, on game consoles like Microsoft’s Xbox or Sony’s Playstation, on over-the-top TV distribution services such as Roku or Apple TV, and on online video platforms like Hulu Plus or YouTube"
• Even though CBS News has an older demographic, this service is still important for them to launch because older viewers are moving to digital platforms just as rapidly as younger viewers.

Brian Stelter, then a media reporter for the New York Times, also reported that the name of the service would be "CBS News Stream" although there is no official word yet from CBS News as to whether this is still the case. Stelter described the channel by saying:

Plans for the Internet channel might be best likened to a 24-hour news radio station, which intersperses live updates with prerecorded interviews and features. The channel would have video clips from news broadcasts like “CBS This Morning” and “60 Minutes,” as well as additional material that did not make it onto television, presented in both a linear format like a normal cable channel and an on-demand format like a website.

It isn't known whether this is how the company will continue to run this operation. Lauria reported in his piece that CBS would consider adding staff to create original content but it's unconfirmed whether the 60 people that CBS is currently hiring will be creating that content or if they'll simply be providing technological support to make sure the project functions the way it is supposed to.

The only hire which I am aware of so far is a former news producer/multimedia journalist for Al Jazeera America and an NABJ member who was hired to be an associate producer. The Washington Post's Wesley Lowery confirmed CBS' hiring of Dexter Mullins on his Twitter page during the NABJ Convention which took place in Boston 2 weeks ago. Mullins wrote trendy stories for AJAM's website.

What do I personally expect to see on this network? Most likely it'll be similar to what ABC News Live offers which is live newscasts throughout the day, extended breaking news coverage of stories which can't be covered on ABC live and clips from segments of various shows. I also expect CBS This Morning's BuzzFeed Brews to be streamed live on the network and I wouldn't be surprised to see clips from PBS's The Charlie Rose Show on the network as well (it's just a hunch).

UPDATE:

More Details on CBS News Digital Network

Mark Cuban Launches His Own Show......An Infomerical

On Tuesday night, Mark Cuban launched his own television show and if I'm being honest, it felt a lot like an infomercial. You know why? Because it WAS!

Cuban teamed up with home shopping network, ShopHQ, to expose America to all of the various businesses which he has invested in through the hit ABC series which he judges known as "Shark Tank".

The show debuted in a brand new studio which was custom built for this special and weirdly enough, it aired during the same period in which "Shark Tank" airs on CNBC (which is ironically owned by ShopHQ's former owners, NBC). I wonder if this infomercial hurt CNBC's ratings at all?

"Mark Cuban's American Dream" started promptly at 8pm and went by pretty seamlessly. Cuban seemed to gel well with his co-host Heather Hall and the entrepreneurs who presented their businesses to the nationwide audience seemed adequately prepared. 

The entrepreneurs were mentored by advisers who work for ShopHQ and these advisers helped the entrepreneurs understand how to market their products on television. As each entrepreneur was introduced, we got a little taste behind the scenes of what happened during practice sessions in which the advisers helped out. This portion of the show gave some new flair that you're not used to seeing on infomercials.

Some of the segments introducing who the advisers were tended to repeat and we didn't really get enough time to meet the entrepreneurs. There was also never any connection made about how the viewer could help the entrepreneurs live their "American Dream". Maybe this show should've been more of a competition between the companies Mr. Cuban has invested in?

Overall though, I have to commend ShopHQ and Mark Cuban for the bright idea. The show was definitely close to QVC-quality and it helped showcase Cuban's innovative products to a potential audience of 89 million. 

Raycom Sports Gets Alabama High School Football Rights

Raycom Media, which is based in Montgomery, Alabama, recently announced that it'll produce a package of 10 Thursday night high school football games which will feature teams from all over the state of Alabama. The games will be seen throughout the state on the multiple stations which Raycom Media owns and operates.

It's very daring of Raycom to produce a package of games for their local affiliates on the same night CBS and the NFL Network will air primetime NFL games but it tells you how much citizens of Alabama love their local football whether it's high school or college (it also helps that they don't have an NFL team). It became clear to me how much pandemonium there was after I watched Alabama's very own Hoover High School and their old MTV reality show, "Two-A-Days".

Anyways, I wonder if one day this package of HSFB games (coming out of the #10 highest ranked state for high school football according to MaxPreps) along with games from other states like Texas and California could expand their syndication reach nationwide. Why?

1. What happens to Raycom Sports on the day which the ACC decides to buy back their games from Raycom and start their cable sports network in conjunction with ESPN, which owns their rights until the 2026-2027 season? Raycom will have to choose between shutting down their sports operation (which is very likely since it almost shut down when the ACC sold their souls to ESPN) or finding an alternative program to broadcast and syndicate. That alternative program? High school football.

2. Local stations will soon desire sports on their lineups as more rights continue to migrate to cable. Why would they desire sports? Because they would be guaranteed a live audience since no one watches sports on demand. Local stations also have a wide reach and could offer a competitive ratings challenge to the new cable sports networks like NBCSN, CBSSN, FS1 etc. which aren't yet established and/or don't have as many subscribers.

3. America has a wild fascination with football and good, compelling stories. A package of high school games with superb athletes and a compelling story all mixed in with the sport which majority of Americans love to watch could help Raycom carve out new programming to syndicate and replace the ACC in case bullet point #1 ever occurred.

For now, it looks like the syndicated ACC Network is here to stay. They recently secured 90 million homes through local stations around the country. This will help the ACC with recruiting since they'll be exposed to a wider audience now that the SEC's games no longer air on free TV. BTW, a new ACC cable network would probably take 5 years to reach that same audience.

But if the ACC decides to leave free TV soon and Raycom wants to continue in the sports television department, why not develop a brand of sports programming which is very local and hasn't been cultivated to the fullest extent possible on television yet.

Just a thought.

Bill Simmons Out At NBA Countdown

Bill Simmons and Sage Steele never really seemed to hit it off which is why I'm not surprised he's been ousted from the ESPN NBA pregame show. I think his Grantland Basketball show is a great idea because it'll give him the opportunity to be more free-form with analysis and debate rather than get stuck to the time restraints of ESPN's NBA Countdown. Viewers will also get to choose whether they want to watch him or not and whether they want to accept him and all his Celtics fandem. One of the reasons he wasn't as liked on television as he is online is because viewers had no choice but to watch him and they knew he came with certain biases and prejudices.

ESPN has given Bill Simmons the world but will it be enough to keep him? We'll see how this new show plays out. If it doesn't, it'll be interesting to see where he goes. Turner and Fox could be destinations despite the fact that he loathes Bleacher Report and Fox Sports 1. Why would they be destinations? They're most likely going to be the only two other entities with NBA rights during the next contract rights period.

NBC is another option because they own the local Celtics TV rights in Boston and he could possibly analyze Celtics games for Comcast SportsNet Boston (He's already done it once; maybe the NBA could use the move as a way to sell more League Pass packages nationwide for Simmons superfans). Simmons could also contribute to Sunday Night Football and The Olympics. His columns on NBCSports.com or a new site NBC could launch for him would be syndicated onto Yahoo! Sports' site. The only problem would be reaching TV audiences, NBCSN doesn't have the power of ESPN.

Anyways, we'll see what happens on that front at sometime in the next year.

Who replaces Simmons on NBA Countdown? Stephen A. Smith is a possibility. According to Jason McIntyre of The Big Lead, Smith has been vying for the spot for a while. But will his recent scandal hinder him from taking over? Maybe Bruce Bowen is another option since he's worked often with Sage Steele during SportsCenter hits at various NBA events before Steele became SportsCenter host. I would personally lobby for Jeff Van Gundy but I doubt he wants to leave the road, he seems to love calling games. Maybe ESPN brings him via satellite to do a couple segments before any game he's about to call?

Why Is ABC Doing A Primetime Robin Williams Special While NBC and CBS Aren't?

Robin Williams is a big star but he wasn't relevant of late so I doubt NBC and CBS will broadcast specials. Why is ABC doing a special and not the others?

1. ABC has enough footage and personalities to do specials like this

2. Robin Williams got his start on ABC through "Mork and Mindy"

3. ABC has no hit shows in the summer like CBS (Under The Dome) and NBC (America's Got Talent) do so they have room to preempt

4. Ben Sherwood controls the network now (or he's about to soon) and I'm sure he's willing to give the news division as many specials and shows in primetime as they want. 

Between GMA, World News, World News Now, Nightline, 20/20, 20/20 Weekend, GMA Weekend, World News Weekend, NY Med, WWYD?, and their Special Reports which interrupt programs at times when NBC and CBS don't; ABC probably broadcasts the most news programs out of all the broadcasts networks. (it's arguable whether their news is really hard news or softcore, female-oriented, showbiz news but it's still news)

Not to mention the O&Os have expanded their afternoon newscasts.

Willie Geist = Matt Lauer's Successor

Courtesy of New York Observer

Here's my random rambling rant/prediction:

We'll know soon enough who Matt's successor is when Willie Geist's contract is up. There's no way he signs unless he's guaranteed the seat next to Savannah. 

If NBC decides to not give him the seat, Geist could just as easily jump to CBS and continue his dad's legacy on that network. Geist could help jumpstart CBS' new 24-hour network, become a "60 Minutes" and/or CBS Sunday Morning correspondent, sub in on the Evening News and even serve as Charlie Rose's heir on CTM which Chris Licht (former Morning Joe producer) produces. Darkhouse? "The View" on ABC which Bill Wolfe is producing now.

Carson Daly has a radio empire and "The Voice" and I doubt he'll leave that for Matt's seat although I wouldn't be surprised to see him quit "Last Call" soon. Josh Elliott wasn't lying when he said he came to NBC to join their sports department. He's doing features for SNF and will be Bob Costas' heir to the Olympics throne (hosting the Youth Olympics on NBCSN).

The only legitimate replacement I see for Matt outside of Willie Geist is a big celebrity who doesn't have news chops but can bring up ratings. But that would go against the strategy "Today" has been using as of late, going newsy at 7 a.m. up to 8 a.m. (unless Savannah anchored solo throughout the 7 a.m. hour but that wouldn't make sense either). And to be honest, I can't think of who that celebrity would be.

Another thing they could do is make Al Roker co-anchor but let Natalie and Savannah handle hard news interviews while Roker sticks to reading transitions to news stories, trendy newsmaker interviews (for example the mother who just delivered 20 babies etc.), and the weather of course. But that too would be weird.

Maybe they move Natalie up to co-anchor? I don't think that would work though because Natalie and Savannah don't really have a sisterly bond like say Hoda/Kathie Lee or Diane and Robin. The only same gender co-anchors I could see working out are Hoda and Savannah but who knows if Hoda has any interest in waking up earlier or if she would be willing to host both the 7 a.m. and 10 a.m. hours or if she could be taken seriously because of how much fun she has during the 10 a.m. hour. Unlike Natalie and Ann Curry, Hoda Kotb can adapt to any situation on television which she's in.

So basically to make a long story short, bottomline is that's Willie Geist's seat.

Cox Media Group Launches A New National Sports Site

Cox Media Group, owners of some of the biggest television and radio stations in the South, is launching their own national sports site which will be launching in the fall.

Their first hires include Bleacher Report contributor and Kennesaw State graduate Raj Prashad and writer for the Atlanta Hawks official website Robby Kalland, who filled us in on some details about the site.

• The site will be headquarted in Atlanta.
• The site will be 100% focused on SEC football and college football in the fall when it launches
• Once they've established themselves, they will expand to other sports such as the NBA and the NFL

This will be a great new tool which Cox Media Group, owner of at least 10 television stations in SEC country (specifically in Georgia, Florida, Texas), can use to boost the amount of sports content available on their stations' websites.

For example, WSB-TV, Cox's Atlanta station, now has the ability to post an article about the Georgia Bulldogs from someone who lives in the area and covers the team daily. The common practice for local TV stations and their online sites (if their sports anchors don't write for the site) is to post articles from a wire service like the AP which summarize sporting events. This is useful for viewers who want a recap of the game but it doesn't feel local and authentic like this new content will.

Cox also has a history of starting websites of national interest with a local feel having launched a center-right conservative political news site known as Rare.us.

I went through the tweets of the two writers mentioned above and they seem to be very cool, young individuals who you would interact with at your local sports bar. This leads me to conclude that this site won't be your typical buttoned-down, filtered site and will sound more like uncensored sports talk radio than HBO's Real Sports. I'm just making assumptions but if I'm right, that's a good thing.

We need  more young and uncensored voices in sports media who can say what they want even if it's controversial. Cox is still a big company but it's not a conglomerate like the companies who control the sports media landscape such as: Fox, Disney and Comcast.

We'll see how this all works out but obviously any new venture hiring young journalists sounds exciting to me.

Ironically as this site launches with stories exclusively about SEC football, Cox Media Group's most prominent writer/insider about SEC football, Tony Barnhart, was been hired away before the upcoming season by ESPN. Would he have stayed if he knew Cox was launching a brand new national sports vehicle? (To be honest, he probably would've since he'll be a major force on the new SEC Network but I'm sure being the face of a national sports site like Bill Simmons or Peter King would've made him think a little harder)

UPDATE: Tony Barnhart will continue with Cox after rejoining AJC during SEC Media Days according to his Twitter page, @MrCFB.  It appears that he'll write generally about CFB for AJC while his SEC stories are for The SEC Network/SECSports.com. Apologies for the error.