NCAA Coverage Propels CBS To Ratings Wins On Sunday Night

CBS Delays Primetime Programming For Conclusion Of UNC-Oklahoma Game

NEW FRONTIER: In Detroit, Joanne Gerstner notes this weekend's Final Four at Ford Field marks the "first time the Final Four will be played in a full football stadium -- the court placed in the middle of the field." While the new configuration "produces some broadcast challenges," CBS officials "think they have everything ready." CBS and the NCAA "have had trial runs at Ford Field," using a Kentucky-Michigan State game in '03 and last year's Midwest Regional to "tweak their plan." One of the "bigger issues was finding a better position for the courtside announcers," as CBS play-by-play announcer Jim Nantz said that "sitting on the floor, with the raised court above him, made for awkward views of the far 3-point line" (DETROIT NEWS, 3/31).

ALMOST PERFECT: In N.Y., Bob Raissman writes CBS Sports "marred a superior telecast" Saturday night by leaving the Villanova-Pittsburgh game just after its conclusion, "before providing the necessary punctuation mark to what went down." After the "most scintillating game of a boring tournament, the network owed it to viewers to show an interview" with Villanova G Scottie Reynolds and coach Jay Wright. But CBS announcer Verne Lundquist instead "threw it back to Greg Gumbel in CBS' hoops studio and there was a break for three commercials." Meanwhile, Raissman writes Lundquist and analyst Bill Raftery for the game "turned in a performance equal to the competition they described." Raftery "sensed what was unfolding and buried his bag of shtick" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 3/31). In St. Petersburg, Tom Jones wrote the "biggest gripe" about CBS lead game analyst Clark Kellogg is that he is a "little too bland." Kellogg is "not a bad game analyst, but if he wants to be good, his opinions need to get stronger" (TAMPABAY.com, 3/30).

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