Coverage of the NCAA men's tournament by CBS has
received generally positive notices around the country. In
N.Y., Phil Mushnick: "By George, they've got it! ... CBS is
presenting the NCAA Tournament the way most fans choose to
watch it." The net has rid its broadcasts of "counter-
productive split screen shots" and is providing "far more
score update graphics than before." Mushnick wrote that
studio analyst Dean Smith, who has "said very little," has
been CBS's "only consistent weakness," but called it "highly
forgivable" (N.Y. POST, 3/15). This morning, Mushnick calls
CBS's production "vastly improved, especially late in crunch
time with the ball in play" (N.Y. POST, 3/16). In D.C.,
Leonard Shapiro wrote that CBS "rarely missed a beat" during
early coverage, "particularly in taking viewers to the
finish of close games." But Shapiro said he'd "like to hear
more" from Smith, and noted that the NCAA's early rounds
"provide employment for a wide variety of announcers, most
of whom seem to have graduated from the Cliche College of
Broadcasting" (WASHINGTON POST, 3/14). In Denver, Randy
Holts: "CBS seems to be doing a much better job hopping
around the country and taking viewers where the action is
hot" (ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS, 3/15). In Pittsburgh, Chuck
Finder writes that the games have been "fantastic, and, on
the whole, CBS' coverage equal to the task - reminiscent of
ye olde ESPN days." Finder: "En Fuego, CBS. We'll stop
typing here to stand and applaud" (POST-GAZETTE, 3/16).
RECOVERED: In Atlanta, Prentis Rogers writes "if CBS
was in the bad graces of the [TV] gods during the Winter
Olympics," the gods "aren't mad at the network anymore."
Things beyond the net's control have "fallen its way," and
things within its control "were handled very well, such as
wisely adding the continuous clock/score graphic" (ATLANTA
CONSTITUTION, 3/16). In Toronto, Rob Longley writes that
CBS, which "made a mockery of the Winter Olympics," put on a
"textbook display of the thrills of live sports over the
weekend" (TORONTO SUN, 3/16). CBS's NCAA coverage has been
"something that the late-day Nagano games were not --
spontaneous" (Josh Dubow, AP, 3/13).
RATINGS: For its first three days of tournament
coverage, CBS's overnight rating was 5.1, a 2% dropoff from
'97, which "had been CBS' highest in three years" (Rudy
Martzke, USA TODAY, 3/16). Thursday's first-round games
produced an overall 4.6 rating, up 2% from '97. The first
set of games rated a 3.5, up 6%, and the second a 3.6, even
with '97. Thursday's primetime games were up 3% to 6.2,
while the late games were down 6% to 4.9 (NEWSDAY, 3/14).
CYBERMADNESS: The Total College Sports Network (TCSN),
which operates finalfour.net, the official Web site for the
men's and women's tournaments, set a one-day company record
Thursday when the page attracted 15.9 million hits, 6.3
million page views, and more than a million visits (TCSN).
In Hartford, Paul Rosano reported that the site wasn't
working as smoothly "as expected" early on Thursday, but by
Friday night screen updates "were blazing." Rosano:
"Although not as sophisticated looking as other update
programs ... it still offers quite a bit" (COURANT, 3/16).
