After CBS spent $275 million for the 2014 Season to win broadcast rights to broadcast NFL Thursday Night Football from September 11-October 23 (and December 20th), the Tiffany Network wanted to make a splash in prime time to draw advertiser. Thanks to the ex Baltimore Raven RB Ray Rice incident, CBS Sports is drawing criticism.
CBS created pre-game promos which featured popular singers Jay-Z and Rihanna singing "Run This Town". But as TMZ released the video of Ray Rice knocking his financee out in an elevator, CBS pulled back from this marketing path.
Rihanna had suffered felony domestic abuse at the hands of singer Chris Brown in 2009. But CBS steadfastly denied that Rihanna's past had anything to do with cancelling the song as well as a comedy sketch appearance with Don Cheadle. CBS sanctimoniously stated:
We thought journalistically and from a tone standpoint, we needed to have the appropriate tone and coverage. A lot of the production elements we wanted in the show are being eliminated because of time or tone.Instead, CBS Sports featured CBS Morning Show hostess Norah O'Donnell somber questions which centered on domestic violence to precede a professional football game.
One week later, when the Baltimore Ravens were not playing, CBS Sports signaled that it wanted to use the Rihanna material. The Hip Hop chanteuse saw BS and called out the network.
After Rihanna's Twitter postings, it is highly unlikely that the videos will ever be used.
h/t: Twitchy
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