CBS is in a very delicate, unique position when it comes to their Thursday Night Football contract with the NFL. Instead of a lengthy, multi-year rights deal like every other NFL package, the league signed a one year, $250 million deal with CBS to give them a half season of Thursday Night Football rights.
The league holds the right to extend the deal with CBS to a second year, or go looking for a new partner. And it’s no secret that the league wields a lot of power when it comes to their television partners. A lot. If the league wants to exert some editorial influence over a league partner, there’s millions of reasons for the networks to listen to what the shield has to say. Not too many leagues have “successfully canceled a sports network’s original sitcom” on their resume.
That’s why CBS was in such a precarious position on Thursday night.
On one hand, here was the debut of CBS’s brand spanking new NFL package on the most competitive night in network television. A night to celebrate the new dawn of Thursday Night Football becoming a national event. And the creeping sensation that if CBS pushed too hard, the NFL might remind them of it when it comes time to decide whether or not to renew that contract.
On the other hand, a journalistic responsibility for CBS to cover what has been the worst PR week for the NFL in years – a growing credibility crisis that leaves a growing number of fans and media members calling for the resignation of commissioner Roger Goodell. Even in the hours before Thursday Night Football, there were new reports emerging that call into question Goodell’s version of the truth in how the league investigated Ray Rice’s assault.
Ultimately, CBS’s pregame coverage tried to balance the need to examine the week that was in the NFL while also having the air of “it’s great to get back to football.” In truth, it turned out to be two pregame shows in one.
At 7:30, the pregame show was focused entirely on the Rice story and the mounting pressure on Goodell. CBS wisely dumped their planned dramatic intro with Rihanna and Don Cheadle as well as a planned comedic segment. Norah O’Donnell was involved in the pregame show on set with James Brown in Baltimore. It was a strong segment that tackled the growing questions from Goodell’s interview with O’Donnell on CBS earlier this week. Earlier, a report from NFL Network’s Judy Battista from New York brought light to the independent investigation into the league investigation. And Tracy Wolfson filed a report on the reaction in the Ravens locker room. It was an impressive effort showing the newsgathering resources of CBS Sports, CBS News, and NFL Network. Most importantly, no punches seemed pulled.
That was again the case during Brown’s interview with Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti. The team’s role in this scandal and abetting Rice should definitely not be overlooked, especially considering their vociferous support of their running back and telling the world what a great guy he was. Bisciotti was pressed by Brown on a number of fronts including his support for Goodell.
After the interview, the show moved to Brown with analysts Bill Cowher and Deion Sanders back in Baltimore with Brown asking plainly whether Goodell should lose his job. At this point, CBS was certainly not shying away from the issues.
CBS Sports has an asset in covering this story that no other network has – former Raiders executive Amy Trask. She’s been featured on That Other Pregame Show on CBS Sports Network and the decision to bring her to the main set was an obvious one. Unfortunately, Trask’s role was minimalized and overshadowed by Cowher and especially Sanders.
Deion Sanders was brutal on Thursday night. When he first appeared on camera, in the middle of discussing the most serious controversy to hit the NFL in years, he was grinning and giggling. When he spoke on domestic violence issues in the NFL, he took the opportunity to first clear his name when it comes to domestic violence cases he’s been involved with and make it about himself. How little self-awareness can someone have?
The viewer would have been better served with Trask alone on set with Brown to open up about the serious issue facing the NFL in reaching out to women inside and outside the league. The fact that Trask spoke for only about 30 seconds was a real disappointment.
Brown then delivered a meaningful, poignant essay to end the first half of the pregame show. It was a supremely professional effort and deserves to be shared with any man, woman, and football fan.
That was the first half of the CBS pregame. Then the clock struck 8:00 and it turned into a pumpkin.
The switch was flipped and we went from the serious to the satirical. With the focus turning to the Ravens-Steelers matchup, the volume was turned up (especially from Sanders) and the fake laughter was turned up (especially from Sanders). Cheesy sponsored segments like the Wendy’s #HUNGRYFORTHEW, with Sanders openly cheering for America to agree with his meaningless pregame pick, felt like an extreme detachment from reality and what viewers just saw. We went from watching a well-produced, consequential, relevant examination of arguably the biggest story to hit the NFL in years to, well, just another NFL pregame show.
And that’s not to say it was entirely the wrong decision by CBS. They had to serve viewers both the news and the game. But in reflecting on the coverage, surely there could have been a way to tone down the theatrics of the latter that didn’t scream “thank God we have that out of the way.” More specifically, someone could have locked Deion Sanders in his dressing room until after the game was over.
For the most part though, CBS delivered what they needed to in covering the growing controversy and credibility questions aimed at Roger Goodell. They didn’t back away from holding the NFL to account. And with the nature of the NFL’s iron fist in dealing with any and everyone and CBS’s short-term contract, it was a welcome sight. Sure there were still the tired cliches that have come to symbolize NFL pregame shows, but there was more than enough hard-hitting information and insights earlier in the evening to make up for it. We’ll see if the other networks step up to the plate in a similar fashion on Sunday.
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