CBS "did it all wrong" in its first two-hour NCAA Tournament selection show, as its "slow-it-down pace ... stretched some viewers past their breaking points," according to Richard Sandomir of the N.Y. TIMES. The net "did not reveal the first quarter of the bracket for 20 minutes," and the full bracket was "not fully shown for an estimated 77 minutes." The efficiency of the old one-hour format "turned into inefficiency over two hours." CBS "would have avoided an outcry had it moved apace through each region during the first hour and reserved the second hour for extended commentary." But CBS "decided to hold the news, milking the suspense by not unveiling one region soon after finishing another." That swift unveiling is "what fans have traditionally come for." CBS "misunderstood what fans needed from the show" (N.Y. TIMES, 3/15). In N.Y., Bob Raissman writes CBS and Turner execs by stretching the show to two hours "were 'victimized' by their singular quest to get a hefty return on their investment of billions in the tournament." The "only rational reason to elongate the show was to have an hour more of advertising inventory to sell." While the complete bracket being leaked on Twitter before it was officially announced may not lead to the '17 selection show returning to a one-hour format, it "should 'inspire' the suits to reassess the format, especially when it comes to speeding up the presentation of selections, which would not be great from a business perspective" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 3/15).
A SHOW ABOUT NOTHING: USA TODAY's Nate Scott wrote CBS "didn't come anywhere close to justifying why this should have been a two-hour program." There was "no unique or illuminating content," but there were a "few canned interviews with coaches visibly nervous and afraid to say anything." There also was Charles Barkley "talking nonsensically about a sport he doesn't follow using a touch screen technology he clearly didn't understand" (USATODAY.com, 3/14). FOXSPORTS.com's Stewart Mandel wrote whoever decided to "take one of the most perfect shows on television ... and turn it into a two-hour snoozefest with more Barkley than brackets ought to be escorted out of the building." Mandel: "This blight on the sacred tradition of March Madness almost overshadowed the bracket unveiling itself" (FOXSPORTS.com, 3/13). SNY's Marc Malusis said having Barkley and Kenny Smith on the broadcast is an "insult to college basketball fans, because they don't watch the games" ("Loud Mouths," SNY, 3/14). Meanwhile, the L.A. Times' Bill Plaschke said, "CBS -- trying to maximize their dollars, trying to get more eyeballs on the thing -- made a complete joke of the whole thing.” The Denver Post's Woody Paige said the selection show “was terrible, and greed will get you that.” The Boston Globe’s Bob Ryan: "CBS got greedy. The question only now is will they admit it and go back to an hour next year, or even less?” ("Around The Horn," ESPN, 3/14).
LEAK ALMOST OVERDUE: ESPN's Bob Ley noted CBS "pays mightily for the exclusive release" of the bracket, but in "a viral environment, where even proprietary internal company memos commonly end up on blogs and websites, (Sunday's) leak almost seems overdue.” Former NCAA Senior VP Greg Shaheen said the protection of the bracket is “taken quite seriously” by the NCAA, and “it's not as if several staff members have the bracket." Shaheen: "It's guarded that closely." He said the bracket being leaked is "just a sign of the times." Shaheen: "It's a combination of what social media and instant access to information can have as you go forward, and it's something I'm sure the NCAA and their broadcast partners will take quite seriously.” Meanwhile, Sports On Earth's Will Leitch noted the leak occurred "at a time where the bracket would have actually been mostly released by the time if it would have been a one-hour show" ("OTL," ESPN, 3/14).
HALL PASS: In Newark, Steve Politi reported one of Seton Hall's student managers found "a complete copy of the ... leaked bracket on Twitter" and informed the team of its seeding and matchup "before the news actually hit CBS." The team knew long enough before for coach Kevin Willard to "send one of his staffers up to the team's offices to download all the game film on Gonzaga, their first-round opponent" (Newark STAR-LEDGER, 3/14).
