CBS Sports HQ is a streaming videosports channeloperated by the CBS Sports and CBS Interactive divisions of ViacomCBS focused on airing sports news, highlights and scores, similar to pre-2010 ESPNews. CBS Sports HQ is co-headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut and Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Like its sister stationCBSN, it is designed primarily as a digital-oriented service and is available for free on a multitude of platforms, including smartphones, tablets, computers, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, and Roku. It can also be accessed through the CBS Sports app for iOS and Android, Pluto TV and CBS All Access rather than traditional platforms such as television, broadcast or otherwise. The service is designed with younger audience in mind, allowing a viewer to get continuously updated information from the world of sports in a fast-paced format at any time of the day. It can be watched as a linear channel or as on-demand segments. The network carries eight minutes of advertising per hour and operates live, on average, 10 hours daily.
History
Planning for the service began in early 2017. It was described early on as being the "CBSN for sports". CBS Sports HQ was launched on February 26, 2018, after success with CBSN and CBS All Access. Nick Kostos previewed the launch at 5pm and then Chris Hassel and Dalen Cuff kicked the broadcast off at 7pm that night. Speaking to investors after reporting fourth-quarter earnings in 2018, CBS Corp. CEO Leslie Moonves stated the company had garnered a combined five million subscribers to its “CBS All Access” streaming service and an over-the-top version of Showtime and expected to surpass its goal of 8 million subscribers by 2020. Meanwhile, CBSN saw streams rise by 17% in 2017 compared to the year-earlier period. In late 2018, headquarters operations and a studio dedicated fully to Sports HQ were established in Stamford, Connecticut, with "split daily operations of Sports HQ between Stamford and Fort Lauderdale".
Programming
CBS Sports HQ draws content from CBS Sports along with its various digital properties, such as 247Sports, SportsLine, CBS Sports Fantasy and MaxPreps to deliver live news reports, game previews, post-game analysis, highlights and in-depth statistical breakdowns to connected devices, without focusing on "loud arguments or bloated diatribes". CBS Sports HQ displays continuous information on a "R"-shaped ticker placed at the lower and right-sides of the TV screen, which isn't visible during commercial breaks. The lower third ticker contains scores, brief news alerts, the day's sports headlines and fixtures in an ESPN BottomLine-styled format. The right-side ticker predominantly features statistics, tables, and fixtures. CBS Sports HQ covers an extremely wide range of sports leagues, including those that CBS doesn't have rights to broadcast. Its programming includes recurring segments such as Morning Trends, At This Hour, News in 90 and HQ Refresh. In contrast to CBSN, which carries some over-the-air CBS News programming on a time delay, CBS Sports HQ does not carry any longform content from CBS television or CBS Sports Network. Live sporting events are also absent from the network's programming. On March 11–13, 2020, some of CBS Sports HQ's programming was simulcast on CBS Sports Network due to the CBS Broadcast Center being closed for disinfection as a result of two employees testing positive for the COVID-19 virus. CBS Sports HQ was unaffected as it was not based from that location.
