Cycling on CBS

Overview

CBS’s relationship with the Tour de France began in 1980, when the network aired about five minutes of race action. In those early years, CBS would tape the opening portions of stages and broadcast them the following weekend on CBS Sports Sunday, though the final stage was shown live. On April 7, 1985, CBS signed a deal with Broadcasting Rights International Corporation to keep the U.S. television rights to the Tour through 1988. The agreement was reportedly worth around $50,000 initially, plus an extra $237,000 for the 1987 race.

By 1986, CBS was airing three and a half hours of coverage over five straight weekends. For its final Tour broadcast in 1988, the first three weekends featured highlights and features, with Tim Brant and Phil Liggett hosting under the CBS Sports Sunday banner. The last stage aired live on July 24. In 2001, the Outdoor Life Network (OLN) took over as the main American broadcaster for the Tour, replacing ABC and ESPN.

OLN bought airtime on CBS for three one-hour tape-delayed specials on Sunday afternoons, which recapped action from the final three weeks. CBS also devoted three and a half hours to the final stage on CBS Sports Spectacular. The total cost of the OLN-CBS arrangement was about $3.3 million. Commentators for CBS included Armen Keteyian, Phil Liggett, and Paul Sherwen.

Bob Neumeier replaced Keteyian as host in 2006, and Craig Hummer took over from Neumeier the following year. Greg Amsinger hosted the Tour for CBS in 2008. CBS’s involvement with the Tour ended again when NBC acquired the U.S. broadcast network rights in 2011. In 1983, CBS partnered with World Tour Cycling to air at least 27 minutes of the Tour of America, a 130-kilometer race from Williamsburg, Virginia, to Richmond, Virginia.

CBS also covered Paris–Roubaix starting in 1984, continuing through 1988, after which the race moved to ABC, just as the Tour de France had. In the 1985 Paris–Roubaix, Dutch rider Theo de Rooij was in a strong position to win but crashed, ending his chances. Covered in mud, he spoke with John Tesh after the race.