CBS has "cast" Craig Kilborn as the "unofficial mascot"
of its NCAA basketball tournament coverage, according to Don
Kaplan of the N.Y. POST. Kilborn, the host of CBS's "Late,
Late Show," will "attend 11 high-profile NCAA games" during
the tournament in "an effort to tap into the large, young
male audience which watches the games." Kilborn will also
appear in NCAA-themed promotional spots for the "Late, Late
Show" that will air during the tournament, while making off-
camera "promotional appearances" (N.Y. POST, 3/10).
ENOUGH ALREADY? USA TODAY's Rudy Martzke writes that
CBS's "experimental" DirecTV package, which allows viewers
to order out-of-market tournament games, has a projected buy
rate of 1% -- about 45,000 of DirecTV's 4.6 million homes.
CBS VP/Programming Mike Aresco said while in "focus groups
conducted by DirecTV, people said CBS gave them everything
they needed in our coverage, which includes switches and
look-ins to other games," CBS "felt we needed to address the
issues of regionalization." DirecTV's Bob Marsocci: "We
expect to see a spike in orders this week." Mediacom's Jon
Mandel: "CBS and DirecTV have to understand that PPV takes a
while to build. The NCAA would be making a mistake if they
dropped it after one year" (USA TODAY, 3/10). Aresco says
the network hopes the DirecTV package will "strengthen"
CBS's "network model and blunt criticism of the network
coverage." Aresco: "We still believe the best way to watch
is on CBS" (L.A. DAILY NEWS, 3/5). NEWSDAY's Steve Zipay
wrote that "insiders say" the buy rate is "just more than
12,000," despite initial projections of 40,000-50,000 buys.
DirecTV execs "expect a spate of impulse buys" before
Thursday's action (NEWSDAY, 3/9).
BREAKING THE WAVES: Broadcast.com is providing free
coverage of all NCAA men's and women's games at www.
broadcast.com. The site will feature up to three audio
feeds of every game, including the feed from each team and
the national feed from Host Communications (Broadcast.Com).
