CSTV, acquired by CBS in November 2005, is now being folded into CBS Sports with the goal of creating a business model with increased marketing potential, similar to Disney’s ABC and ESPN Sports.
Day-to-day oversight will go to CBS Sports executive producer Tony Petitti, working under CBS News and Sports president Sean McManus. CBS said CSTV founder Brian Bedol, who ran CSTV as a division of CBS, is out as the day-to-day chief but will stay on in an advisory role.
The move will allow CBS, which owns the rights to the NCAA men’s basketball tournament, to sell advertising and offer programming across multiple platforms, including over-the-air broadcasts, cable and the Internet, Bloomberg News reported.
CSTV televises regular-season and championship events for 35 men’s and women’s college sports, provides streaming audio and video of more than 10,000 events annually and runs CSTV.com, a Web site with a network of almost 215 official athletic sites.
CSTV’s revenue has tripled since it was acquired by CBS. Initially, the strategy will be to use its brand recognition to help CSTV grow by developing new programming and sharing some of the network programming with the cable network, said Sean McManus, president of CBS News and CBS Sports.
