CBS Sports' Sean McManus on NFL Ratings, the Value of RSNs, and the Future of Rights By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director
Friday, October 19, 2018 - 2:13 pm
Print This Story
Story Highlights
Sean McManus, CBS Sports, chairman, sat down for the keynote conversation at the TVNewsCheck TV2020 conference at NAB NY this week. Top of mind was growing NFL ratings, the future of TV rights, and the role broadcasting plays in a multiplatform universe.
Sean McManus, CBS Sports, chairman, says sports rights will continue to be the most valuable programming asset.
McManus pointed out that all of the big sporting events are still seen on broadcast TV, whether it's The Masters, the Super Bowl, or the NBA Finals. Even NASCAR has migrated back to broadcast TV from cable.
I think that the men and women who control those rights believe in broadcast television, because part of the reason sport is as popular as it is is that the big events are available to every man, woman, and child in the television universe, he said.
McManus also discussed the rise in NFL ratings this year and pointed to a couple of factors. The Kansas City Chiefs have been a bigger draw than expected, and there is a dominant team in the Los Angeles market as the Rams have given new lift to ratings in one of the biggest markets in the nation.
But you need to keep it in perspective, because even though we were down for two years in a row, NFL programming is still as dominant as it has ever been, he said. And with everything going on in the world today people need the diversion of sports even more than they have in the past. And I think that is reflected in NFL ratings.
He also added that while the sports TV business is a competitive one, all of the entities involved with the NFL are rooting for each other.
Sunday Night Football [on NBC] is up over 30% from last year and that is good news for all the rest of us doing business with the NFL, he said.
Next year, CBS will have the Super Bowl, so any general bounces in rating could point to that event continuing to be the bell cow for CBS in 2019. McManus acknowledged the pressure of carrying the Super Bowl. He said that ad sales for the game are very strong right now and there is a lot of interest among advertisers with ad rates eclipsing $5 million.
I think it's going to be a great way for us to end what I believe is going to be a very successful NFL season and the local CBS affiliates [of the teams involved] will reap enormous benefits, he said.
Future of Sports Rights
Asked about the future of sports rights, McManus said that he has been hearing that sports rights were in a bubble since he first was in charge of programming at NBC in 1983.
Sports rights go up because they are the most valuable asset of programming in the media landscape and it generates large audiences on both broadcast and cable television, he explained. And although they may seem ridiculous, they always make sense.
Fox, for example, paid handsomely for the rights to the NFL Thursday Night Football package but McManus said it makes sense as it guarantees winning the Thursday night ratings for 11 weeks.
It was worth it to Fox to pay a huge increase over what NBC and CBS were paying last time, he said. So, the bubble we thought might have existed for Thursday Night Football evaporated, and I think you will see rights continue to go up.
The ratings success with the NFL doesn't mean the league and the broadcasters are standing pat. McManus says there is constant communication with the league on how to improve the pace of play, scheduling modifications, or have commercials that are less intrusive.
The next NFL rights deal will be after the 2021-22 season and McManus said the negotiations will be spirited and there will be a lot of competition.
I'm confident we're going to protect our territory and we have also talked to the NFL about ways to modify the package that could make the overall ratings go up, he said.
Does he expect the likes of Facebook Amazon, Netflix, or Google to be in the hunt?
They're all dipping their toe into sports rights, he said. And I do think the NFL would have to think very hard about taking one of its major packages off of broadcast or basic cable TV because of the exposure elements we've talked about.
Multi-platform Delivery
But multi-platform delivery is clearly becoming the norm for sports. For example, the NFL national games are available via not only TV but also via authenticated apps from the rights holder as well as on mobile devices without authentication (via NFL.com or Yahoo.com). And Thursday Night Football games are even carried on both a broadcast network, Fox, and a cable network, the NFL Network. The key for the rights holder is having national commercials run on all of those platforms and count towards ratings.
And then there is the development of subscription OTT platforms like CBS All Access, which allows those without cable or satellite to subscribe and watch a wealth of CBS programming.
The fees that people are paying for all access are pretty significant and that is one more opportunity to reach more people on different platforms, said McManus.
McManus pointed to the deal CBS has with Turner Sports for the March Madness tournament as a perfect example of new approaches to rights deals and programming. The deal gave Turner the programming muscle it needed to get carriage of TruTV which carried games and it also allowed CBS to move beyond regional tournament coverage and also provide the money that cable TV can generate.
If I was there negotiating by myself without those cable resources, there's no way we would have been able to keep the men's Final Four, he added.
McManus also discussed the efforts CBS has done with respect to 4K and HDR programming. DirecTV has been the primary
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
01/07/2026
Broadcast Management Group (BMG) has announced the appointment of Kathy Samuels ...
01/07/2026
Shade has announced Custom Objects and Automations, a platform expansion releasing June 29, 2026, that adds database and workflow automation capabilities direct...
01/07/2026
FOR-A America has announced the addition of Jaz Wray and Fernando Cruz to its U.S. sales team. Both report to Ernie Leon, Senior VP and Head of Sales and Strate...
01/07/2026
NBC Sports will air all 15 MLB games nationally on Sunday, July 5, across NBC, P...
01/07/2026
Clear-Com has announced a wireless communications upgrade for Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune, deploying FreeSpeak II and FreeSpeak Icon systems across both prod...
01/07/2026
England's performance team will use Sony's STATSports APEX GPS tracking system to monitor player physical data in real time during FIFA World Cup 2026 m...
01/07/2026
Adder Technology has announced the appointment of Neil Hillier as Chief Executive Officer, effective July 1, 2026. Hillier succeeds Adrian Dickens, who transiti...
01/07/2026
Bitcentral, Inc. has announced a strategic transaction creating two separate companies. The Production and Playout business will continue as Bitcentral, now own...
01/07/2026
DAZN has announced results from DAZN48, its creator initiative for the FIFA World Cup 2026. Launched in April 2026, the program received thousands of applicatio...
01/07/2026
Sarah Rose, VP, global services, Daktronics (NASDAQ: DAKT), will be inducted into the Information Display and Entertainment Association (IDEA) Hall of Fame at t...
01/07/2026
Gravity Media and the World Economic Forum's production team provided broadc...
01/07/2026
Insight Productions has announced the launch of Insight Storm, a 53-foot mobile broadcast unit built for esports production. The truck is built around a Ross Vi...
01/07/2026
ESPN has announced several content initiatives marking America's 250th anniversary, as part of The Walt Disney Company's Disney Celebrates America pro...
01/07/2026
Eleven production kits, REMI workflows, and cloud distribution bring 40 World Cu...
01/07/2026
The conference also discussed the opportunities offered an industry that is endu...
01/07/2026
The Mountain West Conference has announced the launch of MW , a direct-to-consumer streaming platform powered by Kiswe. The platform will carry live Mountain We...
01/07/2026
New AI Assistant, Multi-channel Audio, ARA2 improvements & more
Tracktion's DAW software has just received its latest major update, gaining a selection ...
01/07/2026
Stammering, stuttering, strangulated tones
The Crow Hill Company's latest creation promises to be the most original sound set they've produced to d...
01/07/2026
Exclusive run of limited-edition modelling pedals
Sweetwater and Andertons M...
01/07/2026
The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF) is pleased to announce that the ca...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/07/2026
Manfrotto Introduces UNCOVER, the new premium camera bag collection for modern h...
01/07/2026
Blackmagic Design Powers Houston Tamil Sangam Literacy Competition
Brie Clayton July 1, 2026
0 Comments
Volunteers use ATEM Mini Pro, Blackmagic Desig...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/07/2026
PlayBox Technology has published State of Broadcast Infrastructure 2026, an in-depth industry research report examining the technologies, operational challenges...
01/07/2026
LONDON, UK, 1 JULY Jigsaw24 has appointed Alan Henry as Head of Sales for Media and Entertainment, reinforcing its continued investment in helping broadcaster...
01/07/2026
Content Vault, the patent-pending secure content distribution platform protecting high-value media from disclosures, theft and unauthorised access, today announ...
01/07/2026
Bitcentral, Inc. a leading provider of enterprise software and digital media solutions for news, sports and entertainment broadcasters, as well as streaming pla...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/07/2026
Groundbreaking First Nations Screen Business Accelerator launched through nation...
01/07/2026
Chyron Launches the All-New Chyron Academy: A Reimagined, Hands-On Learning Expe...
01/07/2026
Amplium Captures Kawasaki Brave Thunders Game with Blackmagic URSA Cine Immersiv...
01/07/2026
Boris FX Optics Expands Plugin Support to Apple Photos, Capture One, and Affinit...
01/07/2026
Sky Zero Footprint Fund-backed TV campaign featuring Deborah Meaden challenges consumers to rethink everyday bathroom wasteWednesday 1 July 2026
Fussy asks Bri...
01/07/2026
Constituency-level analysis reveals where girls miss out most on sport - and where targeted action could unlock more than £640 million in economic and health be...
01/07/2026
Wuppertal July 1, 2026
Riedel and SKAARHOJ Expand Collaboration With SimplyLive IntegrationRiedel Communications today announced an expanded collaboration wit...
01/07/2026
Apple today introduced power-packed updates to Apple Creator Studio, a groundbre...
01/07/2026
Nectar360, the Retail Media, Loyalty and Insights business of the Sainsburys Gro...
CBS Sports' Sean McManus on NFL Ratings, the Value of RSNs, and the Future of Rights By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director 
