CBS Sports’ over-the-top service had been announced last year. But CBS Sports HQ will be ready to start streaming this month. The service joins CBS All Access, CBSN and Showtime as direct-to-consumer products issued by CBS. CEO Les Moonves made the announcement last week during an earnings call.
Moonves gave some encouraging news to shareholders by reporting that CBS All Access and Showtime currently have a combined five million subscribers. CBS is hoping that the number will increase to eight million by 2020.
As for CBS Sports HQ, the service will not offer live sports at first, but be more dependent on studio programming. It will be ad-supported like the CBSN news channel and will be included for free on the CBS All Access app. CBS Sports HQ will also have its own app, which people will be able to download on mobile platforms and connected TVs.
By launching CBS Sports HQ now, the app will receive heavy promotion during two of CBS’s big events, the NCAA Tournament and the Masters. Plus, there will be other events down the line like the NFL and SEC on CBS later in the year.
Moonves says CBS Sports HQ will offer news highlights and analysis differently than other networks. The key here is that, like the CBSN service, CBS isn’t setting any expectations here. It’s going to use all of its online assets to cross-promote, so it will hope to convert any viewers of its ad-supported networks into paying subscribers for All Access.
CBS says it will have more news on what else the network will offer over-the-top in the coming weeks.
