CBS Apparently Hitting New Low

[landtuna]

Quite by accident I sat through the CBS Evening News tonight (Saturday, 9/25) and couldn't help noticing they didn't broadcast any commercials. At least I didn't think they did. Every commercial break seemed to contain the same five PSA's repeated over and over. Something about girls being exploited, Arbor Day, using smartphones at dinnertime and two more I can't recall at the moment. Usually the evening network news, all of them, have nonstop medicine commercials and very seldom do you see a PSA.

What's happening to CBS News? Are they now trailing the other networks so badly they cannot attract even a minimum of advertising? I realize Saturday evening isn't close to having large audiences but this seems way beyond the pale. If it has ever happened before I haven't noticed it.

I mention this, in part, because I just read an online story about the normal program host, Nora O'Donnell, coloring her hair pink. Is this what the "Chronkite Network" has come to?

 

[Mediafrog+]

Where are you located? On Saturdays this time of year SEC football preempts the CBS Evening News in the Eastern and Central time zones. Perhaps the (presumed) west coast edition doesn’t run commercials as it would not have national distribution, and the breaks are intended for stations to sell locally. The PSAs would be filler for those stations that don’t sell the time.

 

[landtuna]

Where are you located?

Arizona

 

[PhillyNewsLover]

Yeah, I agree with the above post. Here in Philadelphia, Eyewitness News was delayed by about 90 minutes, and ended just in time for primetime. CBS Weekend News didn't air at all. Probably the same story for CT.

 

[PTBoardOp94]

Yeah, this happens quite a bit on Saturdays for Pacific time viewers. If there's no "prime time" due to sports in the East, CBS will air re-runs with PSAs in the West.

 

[AbrahamJSimpson]

Someone looking for a narrative to support their pre-determined conclusions without actually examining there facts? Understanding the context?

To see that on the Internet shocks me. Just shocks me.

 

[anotherguyTN]

Yeah, I agree with the above post. Here in Philadelphia, Eyewitness News was delayed by about 90 minutes, and ended just in time for primetime. CBS Weekend News didn't air at all. Probably the same story for CT.

The Texas A&M/Arkansas football game on CBS ran over by about 15 minutes but the postgame show ran to 7:30 ET, so that pre-empted scheduled local programming at 7 PM. Once again CBS should have scheduled the broadcast at least until 7:30. This also happened last week and will probably happen more until football season is over.

ABC and Fox both schedule postgame shows or go into the next game into prime time. CBS usually doesn't have a game in prime time but since most games run over they need to schedule broadcasts to run at least to 7:30 or 8 PM in Saturdays as well

 

[CTListener]

Someone looking for a narrative to support their pre-determined conclusions without actually examining there facts? Understanding the context?

To see that on the Internet shocks me. Just shocks me.

Someone posting something on the Internet with a glaring there/their/they're error and being called on it? Can you take another shock?

 

[TheBigA]

Quite by accident I sat through the CBS Evening News tonight (Saturday, 9/25) and couldn't help noticing they didn't broadcast any commercials.

Half of the commercials are supposed to be local. What did you see in the local breaks? Is it possible the PSAs originated by the local station, not CBS? Was the CBS News delayed from its normal airtime? If the news was delayed, it's possible the net spots aired in real time, and the breaks were all supposed to be covered locally.

 

[Mediafrog+]

Let's wrap this up in a bow:

During college football season, CBS airs SEC football on Saturdays starting at 3:30pm ET. As such, there is no "east coast feed" of the CBS Evening News as the football broadcast almost always runs past 7pm ET, often to 7:30pm. Stations in the Eastern and Central time zones then go to local news or other locally originated programming before going to network prime time programming at 8pm ET.

In the far western part of the country where football ends around 4-4:30pm PT, CBS provides a "west coast only" feed of the CBS Evening News to run at its "normal" time. As this version is not distributed to the large majority of CBS affiliates, there are no national commercials sold. Local stations can sell local spots in the internal breaks CBS provides. CBS itself runs PSAs and promos in those breaks for those stations that do not sell or schedule the breaks locally.

So, very simple explanation.

I'm in the Central time zone, so am curious about the Sunday CBS Evening News...do west coast stations see local breaks or network Promos/PSAs on weekends when CBS has the NFL doubleheader? That is another situation where the CBS Evening News does not air in the Eastern and Central time zones, and a "west coast only" feed is provided.

On Sunday CBS singleheader NFL weeks, most stations in the Eastern and Central time zones will air a game in the early window, so the CBS Evening News runs at its normal time. West coast stations also air CBSEN at its normal time, regardless of whether they run a game in the early or late window, as any late game would be over around 4pm PT. The minority of ET/CT stations that carry a game in the late window would not have CBSEN on the schedule (and do not get a feed of it) but as the large majority of stations do carry CBSEN in such situations, commercials are sold, presumably on a pro-rated basis to take into account the markets not airing the broadcast.

Make sense?

BTW Mountain time zone scheduling can be a mishmash, so check the local situation in any of those markets.

 

[landtuna]

Half of the commercials are supposed to be local. What did you see in the local breaks?

I don't remember seeing any 'local' commercials. There were 5 PSA's each break and they were identical each time (same 5 and same sequence).

Is it possible the PSAs originated by the local station, not CBS?

Anything is possible I guess but this is the first time I have noticed it. I do not usually watch network news on the weekend though so it may have happened before.

Was the CBS News delayed from its normal airtime? If the news was delayed, it's possible the net spots aired in real time, and the breaks were all supposed to be covered locally.

AFAIK the news came on its normal time 5:30pm local (AZ is now on PST). I should clarify that: Weekdays CBS Evening news airs at 6pm local. Weekends it airs at 5:30pm.

 

[TheBigA]

AFAIK the news came on its normal time 5:30pm local (AZ is now on PST). I should clarify that: Weekdays CBS Evening news airs at 6pm local. Weekends it airs at 5:30pm.

I think what we're saying is that with all of the pre-emptions for sports, as well as the AZ time zone situation, it's hard to say that CBS News can't attract advertising. Put this on a weekday, with no sports pre-emptions, and you might have a point.

 

[Mediafrog+]

I think what we're saying is that with all of the pre-emptions for sports, as well as the AZ time zone situation, it's hard to say that CBS News can't attract advertising. Put this on a weekday, with no sports pre-emptions, and you might have a point.

But remember (as I've posted earlier) we are talking about a west coast only feed that CBS might not bother to sell, due to the relatively small number of markets carrying the broadcast.

 

[TheBigA]

But remember (as I've posted earlier) we are talking about a west coast only feed that CBS might not bother to sell, due to the relatively small number of markets carrying the broadcast.

I can't imagine anyone saying the words "might not bother to sell." If I'm the president of CBS News and my spots get pre-empted by CBS Sports, I'm asking Sports to give me a make-good on my spots so my budget isn't adversely affected. News still has to staff and deliver a show. News shouldn't take a loss in order for Sports to make money.

 

[EricStein]

Quite by accident I sat through the CBS Evening News tonight (Saturday, 9/25) and couldn't help noticing they didn't broadcast any commercials. At least I didn't think they did. Every commercial break seemed to contain the same five PSA's repeated over and over. Something about girls being exploited, Arbor Day, using smartphones at dinnertime and two more I can't recall at the moment. Usually the evening network news, all of them, have nonstop medicine commercials and very seldom do you see a PSA.

What's happening to CBS News? Are they now trailing the other networks so badly they cannot attract even a minimum of advertising? I realize Saturday evening isn't close to having large audiences but this seems way beyond the pale. If it has ever happened before I haven't noticed it.

I mention this, in part, because I just read an online story about the normal program host, Nora O'Donnell, coloring her hair pink. Is this what the "Chronkite Network" has come to?

I'd rather see the PSA's than the per-inquiry ads they usually show when the CBS News is not cleared everywhere.

 

[Mediafrog+]

I can't imagine anyone saying the words "might not bother to sell." If I'm the president of CBS News and my spots get pre-empted by CBS Sports, I'm asking Sports to give me a make-good on my spots so my budget isn't adversely affected. News still has to staff and deliver a show. News shouldn't take a loss in order for Sports to make money.

CBS News does not sell its "own" spots. Neither does the sports division. So "news" spots are not being preempted by "sports" spots. It's all sold by the network sales division. Since there is no broadcast of CBSEN in the ET and CT markets on Saturdays due to SEC football, there is no show to sell. For a west coast only broadcast CBS has obviously decided not to sell spots for limited distribution. National advertisers on CBS will want national reach, not just west coast.

Could CBS try and sell spots in its news for just the west coast? Of course, but it appears they choose not to do so. In any case, such situations only account for a very tiny amount of advertising time and revenue over the course of an entire year...

 

[TheBigA]

CBS News does not sell its "own" spots. Neither does the sports division. So "news" spots are not being preempted by "sports" spots. It's all sold by the network sales division.

But the money goes to the specific divisions and counts to the bonuses of the division presidents. News lost money because of sports. CBS Sports has an entire group of people who specialize in sales, starting with an Executive VP of Sales at CBS Sports, down to a Director of Sales & Marketing. They all work for CBS Sports.

Could CBS try and sell spots in its news for just the west coast? Of course, but it appears they choose not to do so. In any case, such situations only account for a very tiny amount of advertising time and revenue over the course of an entire year...

We don't know the full situation, in terms of which markets ran news when. So we don't know how much audience was involved. All I'm saying is that the News division is owed money if PSAs in fact ran. Unless this was specific to Phoenix.

 

[Mediafrog+]

But the money goes to the specific divisions and counts to the bonuses of the division presidents. News lost money because of sports. And I believe the sales department has sports specialists and news specialists. If they don't, they're leaving money on the table.

You are still overthinking things. Newscast preemptions due to sports (or special programming) are expected and planned for, both at the network level as well as locally.

Spot revenue from a particular sports broadcast can far exceed that created from the preempted newscast. At a local level, late Saturday afternoon local newscasts on CBS stations are preempted whenever the network has SEC football. On Sunday, the late afternoon local newscasts (ET/CT) are also preempted when CBS (or Fox) has a doubleheader, or the station is running a game in the late window. No big deal, the scheduling is known well in advance, and accounted for in budgeting and revenue projections.

No network executive was ever docked bonus pay due to a newscast being preempted. You are trying to create silos that don't exist. In the end, the money goes into the same pot. Each division pulls its own weight. Programming tweaks and tradeoffs are part of the business.

We don't know the full situation, in terms of which markets ran news when. So we don't know how much audience was involved. All I'm saying is that the News division is owed money if PSAs in fact ran. Unless this was specific to Phoenix.

Nobody in the Eastern and Central time zones would have run CBSEN on Saturday, because there was no broadcast of the show to those areas. Pacific time zone stations got the commercial free version. Mountain time, as I said above, would be a mishmash; consult your local listings, as they say.

 

[TheBigA]

No network executive was ever docked bonus pay due to a newscast being preempted. You are trying to create silos that don't exist. In the end, the money goes into the same pot.

Bonus pay is based on revenue generated. They don't get "docked." They just don't make as much. A bonus is what it implies. It's a bonus, above and beyond salary. Every division president is trying to make more money. That's what their jobs are based on. The money may go in the same pot, but the people responsible get paid based on how much each division contributes.

No company I've ever worked for would just "not bother to sell" something. Every piece of real estate should make money in some way. Perhaps not as much, but you don't just throw in the towel.

 

[Don CT]

Bonus pay is based on revenue generated. They don't get "docked." They just don't make as much. A bonus is what it implies. It's a bonus, above and beyond salary. Every division president is trying to make more money. That's what their jobs are based on. The money may go in the same pot, but the people responsible get paid based on how much each division contributes.

No company I've ever worked for would just "not bother to sell" something. Every piece of real estate should make money in some way. Perhaps not as much, but you don't just throw in the towel.

Isn't CBS making money off of the SEC games? So where is the money loss?