CBS would shift some games to such networks as UPN, TNN and TV Land.
PHILADELPHIA – The grim decisions have yet to be made, but CBS officials have already discussed a contingency plan for televising the NCAA men’s basketball tournament if the nation goes to war against Iraq.
The impact on viewers will depend on the fortunes of war – literally.
Will CBS go from Dick Enberg to Dan Rather in an all-war, all-the-time presentation or simply break into game coverage with news bulletins?
Under the contingency plan, CBS would not only preempt tournament coverage to focus on the war, but also shift some games to such networks as UPN, Nickelodeon, TNN and TV Land, ones that are owned by Viacom, CBS’s parent company.
The difficulty revolves around Thursday and Friday, the first two days of the tournament, when 16 games will be contested each day, and on the limitations of the cable channels that CBS wants to use to carry the games in some areas.
Fans of March Madness have long been accustomed to the CBS practice of regionalizing its telecasts, showing each one to the logical audience.
“But it’s tough to regionalize on cable networks,” says Sean McManus, president of CBS Sports.
“The biggest problem is that in the first two days, four games are going on simultaneously in four different regions.”
If CBS opts for sustained coverage of the war through the tournament’s first round or longer, the cable channels would take over the coverage and, predictably, disappoint a host of fans across the country.
The cable channels would not be able to regionalize their coverage.
They would show only one game at a time – a situation that would leave some viewers unable to see their favorite teams.
The situation also looms as a losing numbers game for CBS because it will have an impact on both ratings and revenues. CBS reaches 106.7 million TV homes.
Viacom’s cable channels reach no more than 86 million.
McManus has acknowledged that the difference could dictate “make-good” or free commercials – an ironic development, at best, for the network that recently paid $6 billion to televise the tournament through 2013.
Maybe they should just split the screen.
Class act. New Jersey Public Television did the public a marvelous service on Sunday when it aired “John Wooden: Values, Victory and Peace of Mind, a documentary on the self-effacing man who coached UCLA to 10 NCAA basketball championships.
Wooden, discussing his philosophy of life as well as basketball, made the hour-long show a soul-satisfying experience.
How many basketball coaches have you ever heard say: “The most important profession in this world is parenting.” Or in offering a bit of marital advice:
“When you disagree, don’t be disagreeable.”
Wooden also revealed a key element of his success – teaching his players the correct way to put on their sneakers and socks.”If you make sure there are no wrinkles in your socks around the heel and little-toe area, you won’t get blisters,” he said. Wooden, by the way, never made more than $35,000 a season during his tenure. Nor did he ever complain about it.
Crass act.
The most cynical and moronic advice offered a rookie by a professional athlete last week came from Deion Sanders, late of the NFL and major-league baseball, to LeBron James, the gifted high school basketball star.
“He shouldn’t have taken the Hummer; he should have asked for a Bentley,” the self-absorbed Sanders told CBS, the TV network that gives him a forum.
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