For CBS, Super Bowl is About More Than Just Football

When most people think about CBS, they likely conjure up the network’s prime-time lineup, which includes massive crowd-pleasers such as “NCIS” and “The Big Bang Theory.” But if CBS Corp., the company that owns the network, has its way, TV fans who tune into the broadcast outlet to hear about all things Super Bowl will also start to consider some of the company’s less popular properties.

As disclosed in a recent meeting with reporters, CBS Corp. intends to hitch the wagon of several programs and assets to the grand event that is its Feb. 3 broadcast of Super Bowl XLVII. In the days leading up to the broadcast, CBS will link its “CBS Evening News,” “The Talk” and “CBS This Morning” to the Super Bowl, no doubt in the hopes the shows gain exposure to the broad audience that will naturally be interested in the event. After the game and immediately post-game coverage end, CBS will run a new episode of the freshman Thursday-night drama “Elementary” and follow it with a special broadcast of “The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson.”

Not only will the company tie its CBS News and daytime shows to the Super Bowl, but it will also use the girdiron classic to draw attention to its CBS Sports Network cable outlet and a new sports-radio network it recently unveiled.