CBS (CBS-A) is venturing into the restauarant scene for the first time, readying a new concept restaurant named CBS Scene. It'll be part of the new "Patriot Place," built around Gillette Stadium, where the New England Patriots play. The overall project will include 13 million square feet of shops and attractions.
As far as the CBS Scene restaurant, it will include three floors, housing a CBS-themed retail shop and a meeting place. Included with the merchandise will be DVDs with classic and recent TV releases, along with the usual t-shirt and hat products.
On the second floor will have the restaurant, and the third floor will have a bar.
The 15,000-square-foot restaurant will include high-end grill food, and will have somewhere around 130 high-definition televisions, which include flat screens showing classic television shows from the network, up to current late-night talk shows.
The initiative is a partnership between the New England Patriots' owner Robert Kraft and CBS Corp.
Evidently that partnership has landed the venture in a premium spot in the Patriot Place complex, as the restaurant will be right beside the entrance to the stadium.
Originally Kraft was going to do the deal with ESPN Zone, which has similar types of restaurants, but with nonstop sports coverage as the theme, instead of general TV offerings, as this deal represents.
Kraft said concerning his decision to go this route: "We want to be a unique destination. We have a great relationship with CBS, and their network is so much bigger than sports."
While CBS will offer some sports fare, they also said the restaurant focus will change seasonally, as college basketball's March Madness and things like the Grammy season heat up. The televisions at the tables will present content in approximate 20-minute segments, so full movies and shows an hour in length won't be part of what's offered. This is probably for quicker table turnover, as long-form content would keep customers lingering at the table for a long time.
CBS also said along with continuous content changes, they'll also develop interesting concepts like "Survivor" events and also have stars from the network shows showing up to promote their brand as well.
This isn't the type of thing that will make a huge difference for CBS. These types of restaurants only fit into a small number of locations, and have to be built slow. ESPN Zone, for example, while averaging a solid $12 million annually per restaurant, they haven't added a store since 2001.
With the bankruptcy of Planet Hollywood, which attempted to expand too quickly, it has made entries like this pause in growth.
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