Looking to spark the morning’s conversation in the midnight hour, CBS Sports Network is jumping into the late-night game next month.
The 47-million subscriber network will premiere Lead Off, hosted by Doug Gottlieb, on Oct. 22. Over the course of the one-hour weeknight show, Gottlieb, in his first venture for CBS Sports Network, will weigh in on the biggest sports stories of the day, analyzing the developments and advancing the storylines with a mix of highlights and commentary, with an assist from live guests. The show will be produced by dick clark productions, and originate from CBS Sports Network’s Orange County, Calif.-based studio.
Lead Off will mark Gottlieb’s lead-off role for CBS Sports Network. When the ex-ESPNer’s hire was announced in July, the programmer said he would work across a number of CBS Sports properties, including hosting a daily radio show on the newly-created CBS Sports Radio, which is slated to tip off in January. Gottlieb also will serve as a studio and game analyst for CBS Sports’ college basketball coverage and contribute to CBSSports.com
“We are aggressively expanding our programming and launching Lead Off is another important step in the evolution of CBS Sports Network. Together with Rome, we’re bracketing primetime by providing fans with informative, topical and entertaining programming,” said David Berson, executive vice president, CBS Sports and president, CBS Sports Network in a statement. “Lead Off will be a high energy and unique show. Instead of dissecting what just happened as most late night shows do, it will be forward looking, spinning the sports conversation ahead. Doug is perfectly suited for this role.”
