"Up to the Minute" (a CBS News program) Set to End This September

[CTListener]

Did you know CBS has a cable TV and satellite TV programming service named the CBS Sports Network?

By the way, why did you embolden and capitalize entire words in your message (please don't be offended by my asking about them)?

CBS Sports Network is the weakling of the cable sports nets. It's full of niche sports and secondary-conference football and basketball. It has none of the big three pro sports (football, baseball, basketball) or the next two (hockey, soccer). So, yes, CBS has a cable/satellite sports service, but right now it's more a "watch this space" place in the cable lineup as rights-starved CBS looks to acquire programming for it that people will actually watch in numbers comparable to ESPN, FS1 and NBCSN.

 

[TheBigA]

The diginet arena OTOH is WIDE open if they wanna venture in that direction

There's a reason it's wide open: No money. They're better off being the 5th tier on cable than by themselves on digital.

One of the problems CBS had was when Viacom split. The Viacom half of the company got the MTV Networks which, at the time, had a strong cable presence. Of course we all know that MTV is part of the reasons why Viacom NOW has so much trouble. But if CBS & Viacom remerge, the whole landscape could change.

CBS Sports Network is the weakling of the cable sports nets.

However, they have ACCESS to a lot of things through the broadcast side. They COULD negotiate for part of the NCAA basketball contract IF they had the coverage that Turner has. The problem they have is getting cable companies to pick them up. So it's a building process. NBC was able to put hockey on NBC SN this year, mainly because that channel in its previous life had the hockey rights. CBS SN had no such luck. They started at zero. So its a process. It takes time to build the carriage and audience they need to attract the big sports deals. But the potential is there to do a lot of things.

 

[anotherguyTN]

I get the feeling that a repeat of The Talk] will probably go there to compete with the Kathie Lee & Hoda & Wine hour of Today repeat on NBC (most stations now don't bother with the Mad Money replay that follows that due to lack of time before getting to Early Today); The Talk proved it can work in a late night timeslot, and even in that kind of timeslot CBS will get much more revenue than the AstraZeneca parade of pharmaceuticals that UTTM is right now in commercial breaks, along with the ability to do some Nielsen muddling to try to build their numbers against The View. Not to say CBSN could be substituted on rare busy news nights either.

So why couldn't they just carry CBSN regularly during that time?

 

[TheBigA]

So why couldn't they just carry CBSN regularly during that time?

For the same reason they're canceling UTTM.

 

[SteveRichards]

CBS could air an edited 23-minute replay of that night's "CBS Evening News" following James Corden (or whenever the affiliate wants to run it)...that would get the affiliates back "on time" for the night, and then expand "CBS Morning News" to an hour, with the stipulation that the show can't be joined in progress should an affiliate choose not to air the edited "Evening News" replay.

 

[TheBigA]

CBS could air an edited 23-minute replay of that night's "CBS Evening News" following James Corden

I don't think affiliates are really asking for more network news from CBS. Just because CBS runs it doesn't mean the affiliates will air it. Some stations are pre-empting the network dramas CBS is airing in place of Letterman.

 

[SteveRichards]

I don't think affiliates are really asking for more network news from CBS. Just because CBS runs it doesn't mean the affiliates will air it. Some stations are pre-empting the network dramas CBS is airing in place of Letterman.

Newsday says that CBS News will be offering programming to replace UTTM. If that is true, whatever show/content that replaces UTTM will come from CBS News, not CBS Entertainment or CBS Sports.

And which affiliates are preempting the CBS reruns at 11:35/10:35?

 

[TheBigA]

Newsday says that CBS News will be offering programming to replace UTTM.

If that's true, one choice is the aforementioned CBSN content. The problem there is putting online content on air. That's generally not done. I suspect the costs would be about the same as UTTM. The positive is it would be a way to amortize the current cost over two platforms, and publicize the service for those unaware of it.

Other choices within CBS news are their in-house documentaries, which they produce for cable channels like Discovery, 48 Hours, or Person To Person with Lara Logan. The advantage of those produced news programs is they're not live, and can be repeated, much like MSNBC's various prison shows.

 

[tripinva]

The benefit of "concluding our broadcast day" and cutting the power for a few hours = $$$ saved in the power bill for the transmitter and station.

And the down side is that the $$$ saved is outweighed by the cost of burning out parts on your transmitter from the shock of powering it up and down repeatedly. The most likely time for a computer or other modern electronic device (like a transmitter) to fail is when you first turn it on. A station that wants to keep its transmitter running as long as possible will run it 24/7.

- Trip

 

[Mario500]

I had posted a message about the benefits of a station signing off on a regular basis earlier in this discussion, but it got deleted along with a few other messages attributed to other users.

I believe the moderator named "frankberry" considered those messages "off topic" and had them deleted for that reason.

 

[sandiegoinexile]

CBS could air an edited 23-minute replay of that night's "CBS Evening News".....QUOTE]

Isnt that pretty much what it UTTM has been? It's not as if there were dozens of new reports being filed. I used to watch the show when I missed the Evening News. Almost always, the same 6-7 stories on the news were simply replayed during UTTM, over the course of a couple hours. They also showed 60 Minutes segments and Face The Nation clips.

 

[SteveRichards]

My idea of an edited 23-minute replay of "CBS Evening News" was based partly on what NBC has been doing lately...repeating "NBC Nightly News" on a handful of affiliates, and presenting an abbreviated program that allows the affiliates to get back "on time" and not have to join a show in progress, or cut 7 minutes or so of local commercials over a couple of hours, etc. Most affiliates and the O&O's have been just joining UTTM in progress whenever they're done with whatever infomercials or syndicated programs they have scheduled after "The Late Late Show."

 

[umfan]

Up To The Minute did seem to be live though. As for 'CBS Morning News', I always thought Anne Marie did one half hour live and the other was a tape.

 

[vchimpanzee]

What is the great advantage of signing off? (None.) then again, what is the great harm in revenue-generating infomercials in the wee hours? (Also none.)

Responses can go http://www.radiodiscussions.com/sho...ny-TV-stations-sign-off&p=6055161#post6055161 here.

 

[nathannah]

My idea of an edited 23-minute replay of "CBS Evening News" was based partly on what NBC has been doing lately...repeating "NBC Nightly News" on a handful of affiliates, and presenting an abbreviated program that allows the affiliates to get back "on time" and not have to join a show in progress, or cut 7 minutes or so of local commercials over a couple of hours, etc. Most affiliates and the O&O's have been just joining UTTM in progress whenever they're done with whatever infomercials or syndicated programs they have scheduled after "The Late Late Show."

The only reason for NBC Nightly News airing in overnights was a cynical attempt for NBC to claim ratings national newscasts numbers to top ABC's numbers with the replays; Nielsen quickly stopped those numbers from being computed in, just like Soundscan makes it a no-go for sponsored plays of songs on radio to be counted as spins on charts, and they're 23 minutes because the advertisers opted out of the replay slots, leaving it a sustained program. Only the Gannett/TEGNA stations seem to air the NBC replays.

As for CBS, they really don't seem to care about extra rating points from insomniacs. They also still have a lion's share of radio numbers since CBS Radio's TOTH newscasts have a large reach.

 

[anotherguyTN]

This is a time I hope that CBS turns back over to local stations. That would make it where WBBJ in Jackson, TN might at least run more of Me TV's overnight schedule on 7.3. But it will probably end up that either CBS will come up with something to fill the time, and/or WBBJ will use it as a convenient excuse to fill the time with infomercials. WREG in Memphis will very likely fill it with infomercials if CBS turns the time back over to local stations.

 

[bostonmediaguy]

Any word on when UTTM will end and what will air in its place?

 

[Mario500]

According to the guides to my local CBS station's main broadcast channel from TitanTV, "Up to the Minute" was set to end this Friday, September 18th, and its successor was set to take its place next Monday, September 21st, under the name "CBS Overnight News" (note: the guides to the same channel from Zap2it and TV Guide still had "Up to the Minute" listed for next week by the time this message was edited).

 

[Mario500]

The official World Wide Web site for CBS Studios International has more information about "CBS Overnight News".

 

[anotherguyTN]

It's still listed as Up to the Minute for next week on Charter's guide.