CBS earned a 5.6 overnight rating for its first four
days of tournament coverage, "even" with last year's
numbers, which were the "highest in three years," according
to USA TODAY's Rudy Martzke. Sunday's games earned a 7.3, up
1% from '97. CBS Senior VP Mike Aresco: "In this day and age
of intense competition in all forms of media in a fractured
marketplace, to be even is to be ahead" (USA TODAY, 3/17).
REAX: CBS continues to receive positive reviews for its
coverage of the NCAA men's basketball tournament. In
Baltimore, Milton Kent writes that CBS "certainly has been
lucky" that many of the early games have been close, but it
"has presented wonderful pictures and terrific words, most
of the time." Kent singles out announcers Greg Kelser, Bill
Raftery and Jon Sundvold for their "yeoman's work," and
notes that CBS's "best tournament move" was putting Greg
Gumbel to work as studio anchor. Kent: "Clark Kellogg,
meanwhile, has emerged as a star in the studio as an
analyst" (Baltimore SUN, 3/17). In N.Y., Richard Sandomir
writes that CBS's coverage has been "consistently top-
notch," but points to the jingle played while updating
scores and the "CBS SportsLine Stat of the Game," a "cheesy"
promo, as "[t]wo things [that] rankle" (N.Y. TIMES, 3/17).
A NEW DIRECTION: NEWSDAY's Steve Zipay suggests that
"lingering complaints" from viewers such as seeing only the
final seconds of close games, "could be erased" by
subleasing the tournament's first two rounds to DirecTV.
Owners of the service, which has about 3.5 million
subscribers, could pay $4.95 a game, "or more for the
complete CBS coverage." CBS execs said that they "aren't
considering a cable partner," but said that their NCAA deal,
does "not prevented from making a home dish deal." CBS Dir
of Communications LeslieAnne Wade said the net "continues to
look at satellite TV with the NCAA." Zipay suggests that
DirecTV could replay early-round morning and afternoon games
after midnight for those who missed them, and notes that CBS
could "benefit" from exposure on DirecTV with promos for
prime-time shows and CBS SportsLine (NEWSDAY, 3/17).
