CBS to live-stream NFL games on its ‘All Access’

Dolly Parton beats ‘Empire’

LOS ANGELES, Dec 2, (RTRS): CBS has secured a deal to live-stream its package of Sunday afternoon and Thursday-night NFL games on its subscription-video-on-demand service, a major coup that puts some of the most coveted content on TV on a digital platform controlled by a traditional TV company.

CBS will begin streaming the games on its “All Access” SVOD service this Sunday. The pact will also include pre-season and post-season games that CBS has the rights to air on its broadcast TV network, along with the Super Bowl, when its CBS’ turn to air the event. The Super Bowl broadcast rotates among CBS, NBC and Fox, all the broadcast networks that have deals to air NFL games. All of the “NFL on CBS” games remain available on mobile devices exclusively through the NFL Mobile app for Verizon Wireless customers.

The deal marks a coup for CBS, which has been in discussions to gain rights to live-stream the games since it launched “All Access” in October of 2014. The National Football League has been experimenting with digital distribution, and earlier this year struck a deal with Twitter that granted that socialmedia company the rights to stream NFL “Thursday Night Football” games around the world. Those games air on CBS, NBC and the NFL Network during the course of the season. “Making sure we can make our content available everywhere is certainly paramount to our future,” said Marc DeBevoise, president and chief operating officer of CBS Interactive., in an interview.

Terms of the deal could not be learned, but CBS is expected to pay the NFL more for the live-streaming rights. The network pays approximately $1 billion a year for the rights to air NFL games on Sunday afternoons in deal that lasts from 2014 to 2022, and pays approximately $225 million for a package of five Thursday-night games in a two-year deal that will end after next season.

“CBS has been one of our most trusted and valuable partners for over 50 years, and we’re happy to extend our relationship with them in new and exciting ways,” said NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, in a prepared statement. “Distribution of our games on ‘CBS All Access’ is a win for the millions of NFL fans across the country, especially those looking to watch our games on these emerging digital platforms.”

For years, live sports have proven to be the one TV genre resistant to the steady erosion of audience sparked by new technology that allows consumers to stream video on mobile devices at times of their own choosing. Because most fans want to watch the games as they happen, not days after they air, sports events have proven a boon to a TV business grappling with how to monetize a viewership migrating toward new video behaviors. NFL games continue to capture some of TV’s biggest audiences, which prompts advertisers to fork over millions. Fox is seeking more than $5 million for a 30-second ad in next year’s Super Bowl, according to ad buyers familiar with negotiations. The average cost of a 30-second ad in NBC’s “Sunday Night Football” this season is a whopping $650,000, according to Variety’s annual survey of primetime ad prices. The average cost of a 30-second ad in “Thursday Night Football” ranges between $505,463 and $529,989, with both CBS and NBC seeking significantly more in sales talks, according to people familiar with the matter.

In recent weeks, however, even the mighty have fallen. NBC’s recent Olympics broadcast from Rio suffered a decline in TV ratings even as digital activity proved robust. And viewership for football in the first several weeks of the season dipped, with ESPN’s “Monday Night Football” particularly hard hit. NFL and TV executives have attributed the football disparity to factors ranging from rabid interest in the recent presidential election to the quality of the match-ups this year.

In the battle between Cookie and Dolly, Cookie wins, at least in the advertiser-coveted 18-49 demographic. Fox’s “Empire” drew a series-low 2.8 rating in the 18-49 demo, but that was more than enough to beat out NBC’s “Dolly Parton’s Christmas of Many Colors” (1.7). The second of Dolly Parton’s Christmas-themed original movies attracted more total viewers, though, with an average audience of 11.5 million; “Empire” came in with 7.82 million. “Empire” lead-in “Lethal Weapon” garnered a 1.7 rating in the demo and 6.42 million viewers.

NBC’s annual telecast of the lighting of the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center drew a 1.7 in the demo and 10.51 million viewers. “Christmas of Many Colors” was down a tenth in the demo and about a million and a half total viewers from last year’s Parton pic, “Coat of Many Colors.”

The CW’s sprawling DC crossover continued to bring in a good-sized crowd. “Arrow” reeled in a 1.3 in the demo and 3.52 million total viewers for its 100th episode. “Frequency” didn’t benefit much, though, with a 0.3 in the demo and 1.08 million viewers.

On ABC, “The Goldbergs” pulled in a 1.7 and 5.9 million viewers. “Speechless” drew a low 1.5 and 4.93 million viewers. “Modern Family” came in with a 2.2 and 6.79 million viewers, while “Black-ish” ticked up to a 1.8 and 5.43 million viewers. “Designated Survivor” capped off the night with a slightly up 1.3 and 5.48 million viewers.