CBS' Game One regional coverage of yesterday's first-
round of the NCAA men's basketball tournament earned a
3.4/11 overnight Nielsen rating, up 13% from last year's
3.0/10. Game Two regional coverage earned a 3.8/11
overnight, up 15% from last year's 3.3/10. Game Three
regional coverage earned a 5.8/9, which is even with last
year's overnight. Game Four regional coverage earned a
5.9/10, down 2% from last year's 6.0/11 (CBS). CBS Exec
Producer Terry Ewert tells the ATLANTA CONSTITUTION's
Prentis Rogers that CBS' strategy during the first week of
the men's tournament is to "drop 'live look-ins' into a
market's primary telecast with an emphasis on capturing live
coverage of 'the buzzer-beaters and fantastic finishes.'"
After watching yesterday's action, Rogers writes that CBS'
"intentions are good," but adds that "sometimes the effect
can be jolting and annoying when the switch occurs like it
did [yesterday] in the closing minute of the first overtime
between [Univ. of KY] and [St. Bonaventure Univ.]." Rogers:
"But hey, that's all part of the madness, and the daunting
task of a single network trying to do justice to 32 games
over two days" (ATLANTA CONSTITUTION, 3/17). In
Indianapolis, Marc Allan previews CBS' tournament coverage.
CBS Sports President Sean McManus, on the process of
selecting which games are shown in which markets: "You try
to do as many switches as you can knowing that every time
you're going to do a switch, a certain part of the country
is going to be upset with you" (INDIANAPOLIS STAR, 3/17).
HERE'S AN EXAMPLE: In Houston, David Barron writes that
Univ. of TX fans were "incensed" yesterday when CBS elected
to cut away from the Univ. of TX-Indiana St. Univ. game to
show the final seconds of the Univ. of KY-St. Bonaventure
game, despite Houston's KHOU-CBS being listed as a
"constant" market for the Univ. of TX, which means "no
cutaways under most circumstances" (HOU. CHRONICLE, 3/17).
CRITICS CORNER: In Orlando, Jerry Greene criticizes CBS
for cutting to commercials "on every timeout in the crucial
final seconds" of games yesterday. Greene, to CBS: "Do you
have any feel for the game? No wonder we surf constantly
when the network won't stay at the game to build a sense of
tension and excitement" (ORLANDO SENTINEL, 3/17). USA
TODAY's Rudy Martzke notes some technical problems during
yesterday's first games, but adds that CBS was "flawless
during the second games," as it took "almost every viewer to
the finish of four games" (USA TODAY, 3/17).
ONLINE: ESPN.com reports that more than 590,000 users
registered to play its Men's NCAA Tournament Challenge
(ESPN.com). Meanwhile, SmallWorld.com reports that more
than 110,000 users registered to play its "Journey thru the
Tourney" online tournament game (SmallWorld.com).
