ViacomCBS Nabs Early Access to UEFA Champions League in Bid to Spur Streaming
Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorCan extra soccer games kick ViacomCBS more directly into TV’s streaming wars?ViacomCBS picked up an extra run of UEFA Champions League games in a deal that will put the European soccer organization’s tournaments on broadcast, cable, and, perhaps most important, streaming at a time when the media conglomerate is trying to spur new interest in its “All Access” subscription-video hub.The games will bring “an audience that maybe in the past hasn’t been that heavily involved with CBS programming,” says Sean McManus, chairman of CBS Sports, in an interview..