CBS and Turner Sports made a promise when they signed a groundbreaking 14-year TV, Internet and wireless rights agreement for $10.8 billion to present the NCAA tournament. They would air all the games using four networks — CBS, TNT, TBS and truTV — assuring that all games would be seen nationally in their entirety. Some fans felt it would be too confusing to follow and that the staggered starting times would mess up March Madness.
| Sweet 16 schedule |
| West Region |
| No. 2 San Diego St. vs. No. 3 UConn |
| Thursday, 7:15 p.m., CBS |
| No. 1 Duke vs. No. 5 Arizona |
| Thursday, 9:45 p.m., CBS |
| Southeast Region |
| No. 2 Florida vs. No. 3 BYU |
| Thursday, 7:27 p.m., TBS |
| No. 4 Wisconsin vs. No. 8 Butler |
| Thursday, 9:57 p.m., TBS |
| East Region |
| No. 2 UNC vs. No 11 Marquette |
| Friday, 7:15 p.m., CBS |
| No. 1 Ohio State vs. No. 4 Kentucky |
| Friday, 9:45 p.m., CBS |
| Southwest Region |
| No. 1 Kansas vs. No. 12 Richmond |
| Friday, 7:27 p.m., TBS |
| No. 10 Florida St. vs. No. 11 VCU |
| Friday, 9:57 p.m., TBS |
So much for the naysayers. The first week of the NCAA tournament CBS-Turner Sports relationship has been a stunning success, and the multi-network format has given fans more access to all the games.
From Thursday to Sunday last week, fans were treated to more than 13 hours of basketball a day, uninterrupted by blackouts, regional access or just a short look-in at an exciting game. The networks did a masterful job of steering fans to the right network. For the first time the choice of what game to watch was up to the viewer and not the network.
Also, the staggered game times gave viewers a chance to watch contests late into the night.
The ratings for the first week were the best in more than 20 years, and fans seemed to have no problems with switching from CBS to truTV and over to TNT and back to TBS.
March Madness has always found its way into offices, especially for the games on the first Thursday and Friday.
Since a great deal of video is consumed these days via broadband, it should not surprise anyone that fans took advantage of the ability to watch games for free online, even with the increased TV options. Visits to March Madness on Demand on the Internet and mobile devices are up 47 percent from last year.
This week, TBS and CBS will be airing the Sweet 16 games. Next week’s Final Four and the championship game will be seen on CBS. However, starting in 2016, coverage of the regional finals will be split by CBS and Turner, with the Final Four and the national championship game alternating every year between CBS and TBS.
Examiner columnist Jim Williams is a seven-time Emmy Award-winning TV producer, director and writer. Check out his blog, Watch this!, on washingtonexaminer.com.
