CBS held the rights to airing the Cotton Bowl Classic beginning in 1958. It added the Sun Bowl in 1968, which continues to air on CBS as of 2023. From 1974 to 1977, it also aired the Fiesta Bowl, and from 1978 to 1986 it carried the Peach Bowl.
As the 1990s began, CBS' Division I-A college football coverage was reduced to its bowl game contracts, which it had with the then-John Hancock (reverted to Sun Bowl in 1994), Cotton and the then-Blockbuster bowls. However, it lost the rights to the Cotton Bowl to NBC after the 1992 game, leaving the network with just two bowl games to round out its college football coverage.
For 1995, CBS re-acquired the rights to the Cotton Bowl Classic and also gained rights to the Fiesta Bowl and the Orange Bowl from NBC. This was an important move for CBS as those two bowls would become part of the Bowl Alliance with the Sugar Bowl beginning that season; the goal was to try to guarantee an undisputed national champion in college football, something its predecessor the Bowl Coalition had also tried but did not fully succeed in doing.
Under the terms of the contract, which ran from 1995 through 1997, the Bowl Alliance games would be scheduled for New Year's Eve, New Year's Night, and January 2 with the last of the three serving as the national championship game. CBS would thus be guaranteed two national championship game matchups, with the Sugar Bowl airing on ABC.
CBS was the first network to air a Bowl Alliance national championship game, as Nebraska defeated Florida in the 1996 Fiesta Bowl (on the same token, CBS also aired the last Bowl Alliance national championship game, where Nebraska defeated Tennessee in the 1998 Orange Bowl to split that year's national championship vote as Michigan, which was #1 in both the AP and Coaches Polls going into the bowls, with the latter contractually obligated to name the Nebraska–Tennessee winner as the national champion, was obligated to play in that year's Rose Bowl). CBS also continued to air the Sun Bowl, but lost the rights to the Carquest Bowl after the game was moved from New Year's Day following the Orange Bowl's move to the home of the Carquest Bowl, Joe Robbie Stadium.
CBS lost the rights to three of its bowl games following the 1997 season, as ABC gained the rights to the Orange and Fiesta Bowls as the exclusive television home of the newly formed Bowl Championship Series and Fox acquired the rights to the Cotton Bowl Classic.
| Date | Network | Play-by-play announcers | Color commentators | Sideline reporters |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 30, 1995 | CBS | Verne Lundquist | Pat Haden | |
| January 2, 1995 | Dan Fouts | Michele Tafoya | ||
| January 1, 1994 | ||||
| January 1, 1993 | Jim Nantz | Randy Cross | ||
| December 28, 1991 | Dan Fouts |
During the 1980 game, CBS announcer Lindsey Nelson was stricken with laryngitis and had to leave the telecast after the first quarter. Sideline reporter Frank Glieber took over the play-by-play for the remainder of the game.
| Date | Network | Play-by-play | Color commentator(s) | Sideline reporter(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January 1, 1992 | Jim Gray | |||
| January 1, 1991 | Tim Brant | John Dockery | ||
| January 1, 1990 | ||||
| January 2, 1989 | ||||
| January 1, 1988 | ||||
| January 1, 1987 | ||||
| January 1, 1986 | ||||
| January 1, 1985 | ||||
| January 2, 1984 | ||||
| January 1, 1983 | Pat O'Brien | |||
| January 1, 1982 | Frank Glieber | |||
| January 1, 1981 | ||||
| January 1, 1980 | ||||
| January 1, 1979 | ||||
| January 2, 1978 | Paul Hornung and Paul Alexander | Don Criqui | ||
| January 1, 1977 | ||||
| January 1, 1976 | ||||
| January 1, 1975 | ||||
| January 1, 1974 | ||||
| January 1, 1973 | ||||
| January 1, 1972 | ||||
| January 1, 1971 | ||||
| January 1, 1970 | ||||
| January 1, 1969 | ||||
| January 1, 1968 | ||||
| December 31, 1966 | ||||
| January 1, 1966 | ||||
| January 1, 1965 | ||||
| January 1, 1964 | ||||
| January 1, 1963 | ||||
| January 1, 1962 | ||||
| January 2, 1961 | ||||
| January 1, 1960 | ||||
| January 1, 1959 | ||||
| January 1, 1958 |
| Date | Network | Play-by-play | Color commentator(s) | Sideline reporter(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 31, 1997 | Ed Cunningham | |||
| January 1, 1997 | Terry Donahue | |||
| January 2, 1996 | ||||
| December 25, 1977 | Tom Matte | Tim Ryan | ||
| December 25, 1976 | Paul Hornung | |||
| December 26, 1975 | Pat Summerall | Tom Brookshier | ||
| December 28, 1974 | Phyllis George |
CBS Sports took over the television contract in 2007 and held the rights for four years.
| Date | Network | Play-by-play announcers | Color commentators | Sideline reporters |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January 1, 2010 | CBS | Verne Lundquist | Tracy Wolfson | |
| January 1, 2009 | Craig Bolerjack | Dan Fouts and Steve Beuerlein | ||
| January 1, 2008 | Tracy Wolfson | |||
| January 1, 2007 | ||||
| December 31, 1987 | CBS | Verne Lundquist | Dick Vermeil | John Dockery |
| December 27, 1986 | Pat Haden |
| Date | Network | Play-by-play | Color commentator | Sideline reporters |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January 2, 1998 | Ed Cunningham | |||
| December 31, 1996 | Dave Logan | |||
| January 1, 1996 | ||||
| January 2, 1961 | ||||
| January 1, 1960 | ||||
| January 1, 1959 | ||||
| January 1, 1958 | ||||
| January 1, 1957 | ||||
| January 2, 1956 | ||||
| January 1, 1955 | ||||
| January 1, 1954 | ||||
| January 1, 1953 |
| Date | Network | Play-by-play announcers | Color commentators | Sideline reporters |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 31, 1985 | CBS | Gary Bender | Steve Davis | |
| December 31, 1984 | Verne Lundquist | |||
| December 30, 1983 | ||||
| December 31, 1982 | ||||
| December 31, 1981 | Frank Glieber | Johnny Morris | Dick Stockton | |
| January 2, 1981 | Curt Gowdy | Hank Stram | Frank Glieber | |
| December 31, 1979 | Gary Bender | Sonny Jurgensen | ||
| December 25, 1978 | Lindsey Nelson | Paul Hornung |
As previously mentioned, from 1968 until the present, the game has been broadcast by CBS Sports.[1] The Sun Bowl's contract with CBS Sports is the longest continuous relationship between a bowl game and one TV network.[2] [3]