CBS Sports' coverage of the first and second rounds of
the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament averaged a preliminary
overnight rating of 5.6/13 in the 36 metered markets. This
was 6% higher than the '96 first and second rounds and 10%
better than '95. All four of Sunday's second round games
were the highest rated in at least three years (CBS
Sports). CBS Sports VP/Programming Mike Aresco:
"Competitive games in a balanced field gave us good
ratings." Thursday's and Friday's first-round games
remained even with '96, getting a 4.6 (USA TODAY, 3/18).
For more NCAA ratings, see #26.
REAX: In Boston, Howard Manly writes CBS "had a bit of
a problem Saturday juggling NCAA tournament games with close
finishes." Noting the split-screen technique, Manly writes
"come on. Unless you had a 50-inch television, you barely
could see what was happening." CBS Sports spokesperson
Robin Brendle: "Some may be unhappy. But we wanted to give
everyone a chance to see games from all over the country"
(BOSTON GLOBE, 3/18). In Philadelphia, Bill Fleischman also
notes Saturday's split screen in the final seconds of the
St. Joe's-BC game: "Hello, CBS: Is anyone there thinking?
Why would the network jolt the senses of Philadelphia and
Boston area viewers in the final seconds?" (PHILADELPHIA
INQUIRER, 3/18). In Baltimore, Milton Kent writes "for the
content, CBS' work, from an announcer and production
standpoint, was about as good as it has been since" CBS
began covering the event. Kent: "You could pick nits with
the decisions to switch from game to game ... [but] most of
the choices were sound" (Baltimore SUN, 3/18). In N.Y.,
Phil Mushnick: "CBS must let all viewers know, early within
the first two rounds, that no viewer owns any one game. ...
CBS has done fine thus far, but it can strike a happier
compromise that it did the last four days" (N.Y. POST,
3/17). In Newark, Nat Gottleib: "CBS should be lauded for
not overdoing the Dean Smith milestone thing. Like the rest
of CBS's tournament coverage, it was played low key" (Newark
STAR-LEDGER, 3/16). In DC, Leonard Shapiro: "To its credit,
CBS really hasn't missed much of March Madness, a nice trend
going into the next few weeks" (WASHINGTON POST, 3/16).
