New CBS News Prez: McManus Biography

By Brian 

Quoting David Bauder: “McManus, son of legendary sportscaster Jim McKay, has been head of CBS Sports since 1996. He helped negotiate the return of NFL football to the network in 1998, and he sealed a deal to keep the NCAA men’s basketball tournament on CBS Sports through 2014.”

“During his tenure as President of the Division, CBS Sports has become the year-round leader in sports television,” today’s press release says. His full biography is after the jump…


McManus was named President, CBS Sports, in November 1996. During his tenure as President of the Division, CBS Sports has become the year-round leader in sports television.

McManus led CBS’s efforts in acquiring broadcast rights to the National Football League in January 1998. In November 1999, he led CBS to an unprecedented landmark agreement with the NCAA that extended the exclusive over-the-air broadcast rights — as well as rights to the Internet, marketing and corporate sponsorship, merchandising, licensing, cable television, radio, satellite, digital and home video — to the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship until 2014. The 11-year pact is the most comprehensive sports agreement in history. He also reached a new multi-year agreement with the PGA TOUR, allowing CBS Sports to extend its broadcast rights through 2006 and to remain the tour’s dominant broadcast partner, and extended CBS’s agreements with the United States Tennis Association and a range of college football events.

Complementing the on-air talent roster that already included Jim Nantz, John McEnroe, Billy Packer and Ken Venturi, McManus was responsible for adding Greg Gumbel, Dick Enberg, Verne Lundquist, Phil Simms, Dan Dierdorf, Lesley Visser, Deion Sanders, Boomer Esiason, Dan Marino, Lanny Wadkins, Randy Cross, Armen Keteyian, Clark Kellogg and Todd Blackledge to CBS Sports’ announcer lineup.

In addition, McManus led CBS’s efforts to partner with CBS SportsLine and America Online to obtain the exclusive Internet rights to NFL.com and Super Bowl.com. He also led the Network’s efforts in a joint venture with SportsLine USA, creating CBS SportsLine, one of the most successful sports Internet sites.

McManus began his career in 1977 at ABC Sports, where he was a production assistant and associate producer. He joined NBC Sports in 1979 as an associate producer assigned to the NFL, Wimbledon, the PGA TOUR, “Sportsworld,” auto racing and the Tour de France. In 1982, McManus became the youngest vice president in the history of NBC. As Vice President, Program Planning and Development at NBC Sports through 1987, McManus was responsible for all programming and was instrumental in the rights negotiations for the Olympics, the NFL, Wimbledon, the Breeders’ Cup, the Orange Bowl, auto racing and NCAA college basketball.

After NBC, McManus joined Trans World International, the television division of International Management Group, the largest sports marketing firm in the world, as Senior Vice President of U.S. Television Sales and Programming. From that point, he joined CBS in 1996.

McManus is the son of legendary sports broadcaster Jim McKay, and a graduate of Duke University (B.A., cum laude, English and history, 1977).

He and his family live in Connecticut.

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