CBSSports.com is expanding Rapid-Reports, the real-time, Twitter-like reporting structure it introduced two years ago, to college football with the addition of 40 correspondents to cover key major conference programs.
 |
| The CBSSports.com feature hits readers with a Twitter-like stream of field reports. |
The RapidReports concept involves filing a steady stream of immediate reports from the field, usually two to three sentences each, and often includes photo and video content.
The short-form reporting format for the site’s NFL coverage generated more than 55,000 individual filings in 2009, and 82,000 last year.
The plan, the first expansion of RapidReports beyond NFL coverage, is part of an overall increase by CBS Sports in editorial resources devoted to college sports.
The site earlier this year hired noted college basketball reporter Jeff Goodman from FoxSports.com and leading college football writer Tony Barnhart from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, among others.
“We’re going hard after the college fan, and this is an editorial concept we think will lend really well to what we’re doing,” said Jeff Gerttula, CBSSports.com vice president of programming.
The RapidReports content in particular is being targeted for CBSSports.com’s mobile extensions, and it will be integrated through the CBSSports.com home page and team and college football main pages.
Like the NFL RapidReports correspondents, the college writers will be contract employees working for CBSSports.com for the duration of the coming football season.
Key schools from the ACC, SEC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12 and independent Notre Dame will be in the initial coverage plan, though that is subject to change.
