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TNT Sports and CBS Sports add big names to men's college basketball coverage
Regular-season college basketball seems to sometimes fly under the radar. Some of that is because its rights are sold conference by conference, and they're usually a small part of the discussion around conference media deals, which revolve around football (for good reason). But while CBB isn't hitting the ratings heights of football, it can draw some decent audiences for big matchups, and, especially in this era of streaming services, it can provide a lot of valuable live sports inventory. It's also at least somewhat of a priority for several networks, and Thursday's big hires from TNT Sports and CBS Sports illustrate that.
At TNT Sports, the new hires are Bruce Pearl, Jalen Rose, and Jamal Mashburn. They'll join host Adam Lefkoe for TNT's first season of season-long Big East and Big 12 basketball, which adds to the tournament-focused coverage the company has done in the past. They'll also be on the joint TNT Sports/CBS Sports March Madness NCAA Tournament coverage. And Chris Webber, who had mostly been working for TNT on the NBA side (especially at NBA TV) but had done some tournament-focused CBB coverage for them, will be back to contribute to TNT's "coverage of Players Era during Thanksgiving week and additional key moments during the college basketball season."
Meanwhile, CBS also announced that Pearl is joining their season-long coverage. And they added another big name in Robbie Hummel, who's been a prominent analyst over the last decade with ESPN, Big Ten Network, Fox, NBC, Westwood One, and SiriusXM. The CBS release noted that this duo will each call games and contribute to studio coverage during the season, but that Pearl will be in studio during March Madness and Hummel will be on game calls there.
This move comes as both networks are bumping up their regular-season college basketball tonnage and focus. For TNT, that's part of their shift after losing NBA rights, but they do seem to have a strong belief that season-long college basketball can be a winner for them (and can further bolster their NCAA Tournament coverage). TNT Sports chief content officer Craig Barry spoke to me last November about that strategic focus, and how they were using the tournaments to build towards this year and its heightened regular-season content. Here's one key quote from that interview (which also saw him call the sport "a real untapped opportunity"):
“We have such a short period of time with the three weeks of March Madness. Most of those stories are predetermined. We have this idea of stretching the editorial, having it game-to-game, to kind of carry the audience along with us. I think that’s really valuable to us.
...It’s interesting with us having the last tournament of the season as well as a bunch of the first tournaments of the season, but we didn’t have the connective tissue until we got the Big East. Now we have a narrative and a vehicle from the beginning of the season to the end of the season.”
For CBS, airing both regular-season CBB and conference tournaments has long been a thing. But they've bumped up their tonnage notably in recent years, broadcasting almost 300 games across their platforms (with teams representing 23 conferences) last season. Some of that is about them emphasizing sports content on their Paramount+ streaming service, and some of that is about new deals (especially with the Big Ten) that provided them with more streaming-exclusive games.
Streaming-exclusive can make more sense for CBB than some other sports. These games aren't broad-audience enough to draw the huge outrage that still somehow shows up for streaming-only NFL or college football games (which somehow often doesn't include comparable rants about cable-exclusive games or cost comparisons there), but they're popular enough with devoted fans to perhaps draw some signups. There are also unlimited "channels" on a streaming service, so getting more tonnage of streaming-exclusive programming is almost always good and doesn't provide the scheduling headaches that can come with having a lot of content that's contractually required to appear linearly.
Streaming-exclusive CBB is particularly notable for CBS given its sports push at Paramount+. However, it's also a component of TNT's streaming strategy. That's currently as part of Max, but they're going to launch their own direct-to-consumer app next year as part of parent company Warner Bros. Discovery separating its linear networks, including TNT, into a "Global Networks" division separate from their streaming and studios. Sports rights will be key to success there, and CBB is part of that.
The last key thing to touch on here is how these TNT hires fit in with their studio strategy across sports. Here are a few of the quotes from their release on that:
“Our studio shows have always had a certain DNA that is unique to TNT Sports, and we take great pride in assembling the right blend of personalities capable of extending that culture,” said Craig Barry, Chief Content Officer, TNT Sports. “We believe we’ve found a distinctive balance with this college basketball team and we’re confident fans will be entertained by their perspectives, the storytelling and access they provide from their experiences in and around the game.”
"I’ve long admired and deeply respected the way TNT Sports delivers the best studio shows in the industry, along with the way they treat everyone as family, and I could not be more excited to join the amazing team they’ve assembled to cover college basketball,” said Pearl. “The product has never been in better shape on the court and I’m going to bring the same passion I displayed as a coach to broadcasting. I can’t wait for the start of the season.”
“I’ve been so fortunate to play and cover the game of basketball at every level, with some of my fondest memories coming from my days playing with the Fab Five,” said Rose. “College basketball is about legacy, culture, and unforgettable moments, and I’m going to embrace every opportunity to share my perspectives alongside my TNT Sports teammates.”
We'll see if the TNT CBB studio proves as successful as their NBA and NHL offerings have been. But they've certainly nabbed some interesting personalities for it, and people with a lot of varied experiences. It seems like a promising mix to kick off this new era of season-long CBB for them.
