During the Indiana-Louisville men\u2019s college basketball game on Saturday, CBS Sports debuted a new feature, CBS Viewpoint.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re about to show you something you\u2019ve never seen before,\u201d play-by-play announcer Tom McCarthy explained on the CBS broadcast. \u201cIt\u2019s called CBS Viewpoint. This new technology uses live on-court tracking data to generate virtual recreation of today\u2019s game. It lets us deliver camera angles that were never possible before. Even perspectives that show what players themselves in real time do as they develop.\u201d<\/p>\n
That sounds great, in theory. And we\u2019ve seen MLB with Statcast and the NFL with NextGen Stats, for example, use technology to both acquire and demonstrate data that is very useful to organizations, fans, and broadcast viewers. Even the NBA on Prime has shown off some fun, fancy technology<\/a> to do neat in-studio demonstrations.<\/p>\n Perhaps we\u2019ll see more of that value with CBS Viewpoint in the future, but what the broadcast showed on Saturday came across as just using technology for the sake of technology.<\/p>\n The debut of CBS Viewpoint, which recreates actual game footage with computer-generated versions that are less interesting than the real-life play. pic.twitter.com\/hoNGdSbTA9<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) December 6, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Viewpoint gives us another perspective of that big Mikel Brown Jr. slam. pic.twitter.com\/OSUDSUW6Nx<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 CBS Sports College Basketball \ud83c\udfc0 (@CBSSportsCBB) December 6, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n In those examples, simply showing video replay of the actual highlights instead of turning it into an iRobot, College Hoops 2K7 hybrid would\u2019ve worked just fine for viewers.<\/p>\n The initial response to CBS Viewpoint has been pretty universal on X. Here\u2019s a sampling of the feedback:<\/p>\n Let\u2019s not overreact, but prosecute everyone who approved, made, and aired this to the full extent of the law. Really set an example with this one. https:\/\/t.co\/OuiKqXcNq2<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 The Solid Verbal College Football Show (@SolidVerbal) December 6, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Humans > https:\/\/t.co\/hi2GY1K4vj<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Cole Cubelic (@colecubelic) December 6, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Feels like the regular replay would have sufficed. https:\/\/t.co\/dA8Ak0jzBD<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Greg Peterson (@GUnit_81) December 7, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n https:\/\/t.co\/sMN0QVnScw<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/ciFteOUrM8<\/a><\/p>\n\n
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