CBS Gives Clear Directive To Announcers On Social Justice Coverage

What happens on the field will be discussed by CBS announcers. What isn't happening on the field will not be. Almost like it should be.

First reported by Forbes, CBS Sports chairman Sean McManus gave his broadcasting team clear directives to not interject personal opinions on Black Lives Matter, kneeling, social justice of any kind during the broadcast.

“Our announcers on site at the games are not gonna condone, they’re not gonna condemn what’s going on,' McManus said. "They’re going to report it and they’re going to move on.

“We need to thread the needle just the right way, because there are people who are tuning in just to hear about football. So we need to make sure that we don’t overdo the emphasis on what’s going on in our country, but we’re not gonna ignore it.”

Like many instances when sudden change happens, it is driven by the data.

The Kansas City Chiefs defeated the Houston Texans to open the season. They NFL lost in a big way in the ratings.

The game scored a 5.2 rating among adults 18-49 with 16.4 million viewers between 8-11 p.m. ET. While the number will adjust some upward later to 11:30 p.m., it represented a 16.1% drop.

It was the lowest opening night in 10 years.

The 'Get Woke, Go Broke' mantra continues to be proven true and it is something, at least partially, being noticed by CBS.

“They’re certainly allowed to talk about what is happening on the field, whether it’s the National Anthem or something else with a name or a phrase on a player’s jersey or on his shoes,” McManus said. “They’re free to talk about that, but we’re gonna do so objectively. They’re not going to interject their opinion or their philosophy. They’re there to cover the game. But if something else happens to be part of the story, they’re going to tell that story.”

CBS will begin its airings -- at least this week -- with showing the national anthems and what players take what action. McManus said that structure could change as early as next week.

He added that the pregame shows would also walk a very delicate line of coverage as it is becoming more clear that people do not want politics in their sports.

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