How to watch the Super Bowl on CBS: Chiefs vs 49ers

Kansas City Chiefs' Travis Kelce
Kansas City Chiefs' Travis Kelce (Image credit: Scott Winters/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

NFL on CBS was home to Sunday football action every week throughout the NFL regular season, and now it will serve as the TV home for the biggest game of the year, Super Bowl LVIII.

CBS is just one of the networks that covers the NFL, with NFL on Fox, NBC's Sunday Night Football, ESPN's Monday Night Football and Prime Video's Thursday Night Football carrying games. But for this final matchup, CBS is the network of choice, but it is not your only option.

Here is everything that you need to know about how to watch the NFL on CBS.

How to watch the Super Bowl on CBS

CBS is one of the four major US TV networks and as such it is required to be carried on all traditional pay-TV cable subscription packages, meaning if you still pay for cable TV, then you automatically have access to your local CBS station. Local CBS stations can also be received for free by those who use a TV antenna.

If you’ve cut the cord on traditional pay-TV services and have opted for a live TV streaming service, most of them include CBS as part of their standard channel lineup, like Fubo, Hulu with Live TV, YouTube TV and DirecTV Stream.

There is also a pure streaming option for watching NFL on CBS games — Paramount Plus. US subscribers can watch the NFL on Paramount Plus. The ad-free version of the streaming service allows for live streaming of local CBS stations, as does the ad-supported, but only for sporting events like NFL games on CBS.

Another option to stream your local CBS game is to sign up for NFL Plus. This new streaming service provides live streams of games available in your area, but only through your mobile phone or tablet.

If UK football fans are wondering where they can watch NFL games — since they don’t have CBS or the other US networks — they do have a couple of options. NFL games are shown in the UK on ITV, Sky TV and the NFL Game Pass subscription service. 

Super Bowl on CBS schedule

Super Bowl coverage begins on CBS at 11:30 am ET with NFL Slimetime. This special is geared towards kids as it offers a preview of the game but with popular Nickelodeon characters SpongeBob Squarepants and Patrick Star.

At noon ET, NFL Films presents Road to the Super Bowl, a compilation of highlights from the season leading up to the Super Bowl.

Then at 1 pm ET, You Are Looking Live! The Show That Changed Sports Television Forever gives a history of The NFL Today, the CBS pregame show and how it helped change sports broadcasting.

That all leads up to the start of pre-game coverage at 2 pm ET/11 am PT, featuring interviews, pre-taped packages and analysis. That goes until 6 pm ET/3 pm PT, when the Super Bowl Kickoff Show begins, which will include the performance of the National Anthem by Reba McEntire.

Finally, at 6:30 pm ET/3:30 pm PT, Super Bowl LVIII gets underway between the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers.

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Michael Balderston

Michael Balderston is a DC-based entertainment and assistant managing editor for What to Watch, who has previously written about the TV and movies with TV Technology, Awards Circuit and regional publications. Spending most of his time watching new movies at the theater or classics on TCM, some of Michael's favorite movies include Casablanca, Moulin Rouge!, Silence of the Lambs, Children of Men, One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest and Star Wars. On the TV side he enjoys Only Murders in the Building, Yellowstone, The Boys, Game of Thrones and is always up for a Seinfeld rerun. Follow on Letterboxd.