By Frank Macek
Television has been my world for a long time. I’ve watched it transform from the days when families gathered around a single glowing box in the living room to today’s fragmented media landscape where every person in the household streams something different on their own device. Through all the seismic changes—from cable’s rise to the digital revolution—one truth has remained constant: sports are the heartbeat of television.
In this article, I want to take a closer look at why live sports remain the last great force holding broadcast TV together, how local stations like WKYC depend on them for survival, and where the future may be headed as streaming giants try to chip away at the very foundation of television’s most loyal audience.
The Power of Live Events
When you think about it, most television can be consumed on your own schedule. Miss last night’s episode of your favorite drama? Fire up Hulu, Peacock, or Paramount+ and you’re caught up. Want to binge an entire series? Netflix is happy to serve it to you on demand.
But sports are different. They are unscripted drama in real time. You don’t know how it will end, and that’s the magic. A walk-off home run, a buzzer-beating three-pointer, a last-second field goal—those moments can’t be replicated after the fact. They must be experienced live.
This is why sports consistently dominate Nielsen’s list of most-watched television programs each year. Look at the top 100 broadcasts of 2023: the NFL alone accounted for more than 80 of them. The Super Bowl isn’t just the biggest game—it’s the last truly unifying cultural event in America. In a country divided by so many choices, one night still brings more than 100 million people together to watch the same thing at the same time.
That’s why networks will pay staggering sums to lock in sports rights. NBC, CBS, Fox, and ESPN aren’t throwing billions at the NFL because they love football. They’re doing it because football guarantees live audiences and the advertising dollars that follow.
The Local Connection
And that’s where local television stations step in. At WKYC, and at other NBC affiliates across the country, sports coverage is much more than just airing the game. It’s the pre-game analysis, the halftime features, the post-game press conferences, and the stories that connect players to their communities.
I’ve worked behind the scenes when the newsroom prepares for Browns coverage. The energy is different. Producers know these broadcasts will bring in audiences that may not tune in for anything else. Reporters know their stories will be dissected in bars, workplaces, and family gatherings the next day. For local affiliates, sports isn’t just programming—it’s the heartbeat of community connection.
Why Sports Still Matter for Broadcast
In an era when cord-cutting has gutted cable subscriptions and streaming platforms have become the go-to for scripted content, broadcast TV desperately needs something that people can’t get anywhere else. Sports fill that role perfectly.
Think about it: when was the last time you saw 20 million people tune in live to watch a scripted drama? It doesn’t happen anymore. Even the most popular shows today—network hits like NCIS or Chicago Fire—barely touch the numbers sports pull in every single week.
Sports deliver scale. They deliver live audiences. And they deliver a reliable stream of revenue from advertisers who know those eyeballs aren’t going anywhere else. That’s why networks are willing to cut other costs, lay off staff, and shrink scripted budgets, while still investing record amounts in sports rights. Without sports, broadcast television’s advertising model would collapse.
The Streaming Threat
But here’s where the story gets complicated. In the last few years, we’ve seen leagues experiment with streaming partners in ways that threaten the traditional TV model.
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Amazon Prime Video grabbed exclusive rights to Thursday Night Football.
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Apple TV+ struck deals with Major League Baseball and MLS (Major League Soccer).
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Peacock made headlines in January 2024 when it aired the NFL’s first-ever exclusive playoff game behind a streaming paywall.
For fans, this shift can feel frustrating. Suddenly, you can’t just turn on your local affiliate to see your team play. You may need three or four different subscriptions to follow a single season. For broadcasters, it’s terrifying. If marquee games migrate behind paywalls, local stations lose not only their audience but their sense of relevance.
I remember the uproar in Cleveland when a Browns game aired exclusively on the NFL Network in 2008. Fans without cable were shut out completely. Multiply that frustration across the entire country today, and you see why the shift to streaming is more than just a business move—it’s a cultural disruption.
Sports as Cultural Glue
It’s not just about entertainment. Sports are one of the few cultural touchstones that bring us together. When the Cavs won the NBA championship in 2016, the celebration wasn’t confined to Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. It spilled into the streets, it filled Public Square, it united generations of Clevelanders who had waited decades for a title.
Broadcast television amplifies those moments. It gives everyone access, not just those who can afford streaming subscriptions or premium cable packages. There’s a democratic element to sports on broadcast TV—it’s a shared experience across income levels, generations, and communities.
What Happens if Sports Leave Broadcast?
If sports were to fully migrate to streaming, the consequences for broadcast TV would be devastating. Viewership would plummet. Advertising dollars would dry up. Local stations would lose one of their strongest ties to the community.
Without sports, what would keep viewers coming back to their local NBC, CBS, or Fox station in real time? News is important, yes—but even news consumption is increasingly digital. Sports are the one category that has defied the trend. Remove that, and you remove the last great anchor.
How Local Stations Can Adapt
So, where does this leave stations like WKYC? The truth is, adaptation is already happening. Local sports departments aren’t just covering games—they’re producing highlights for digital platforms, building interactive experiences on social media, and streaming pre- and post-game coverage on station apps.
I’ve seen firsthand how WKYC has leaned into multiplatform storytelling. A Browns game may air on CBS, but WKYC will still be there in-depth coverage and analysis like The Ultimate Cleveland Sports Show on YouTube, Sports Tonight on Sunday nights after the news and The Point After on Mondays with Nick Camino, Jason Lloyd and Mary Kay Cabot from cleveland.com. That’s the strategy moving forward: make your station the place for context, conversation, and community, even if you don’t hold the broadcast rights.
The Business of Sports Rights
It’s also worth noting how sports rights are shaping the entire media industry. The NBA’s media deal is expected to exceed $70 billion. The Big Ten conference inked a $7 billion deal with Fox, CBS, and NBC to spread games across their platforms. The NFL’s latest round of contracts will pay out more than $100 billion over the next decade.
These aren’t just numbers. They’re lifelines. Without those rights, networks would struggle to justify their existence in the streaming age. With them, they maintain leverage against streaming-only rivals. It’s a high-stakes game, and one that will determine the future of television as we know it.
Frank’s Final Thoughts
Sports are the great unifier in a fractured media world. They’re unpredictable, unscripted, and unfolding in real time—everything television was designed to deliver. Without sports, broadcast TV would already be on life support. With them, it still has a pulse.
But the future is uncertain. Streaming is circling, and leagues see dollar signs in exclusivity. Local stations must continue to innovate, finding new ways to connect audiences to their hometown teams and stories, even as games slip away to digital platforms.
Here’s what I know: the day sports leave broadcast television entirely will be the day the medium takes its hardest hit yet. Until then, sports will remain the lifeline—the last must-watch event—the glue that keeps television together. And as someone who’s lived and breathed local TV for years, I’ll be watching closely, just like the rest of you, every time the Browns take the field, the Cavs hit the hardwood, or the Guardians step up to the plate.
Because in those moments, television still feels like the powerful, unifying force it once was.