Villanova, Scottie Reynolds get no love from CBS after clinching Final Four

Villanova's Scottie Reynolds reacted quickly Saturday night, dashing to a Final Four berth and sending Pittsburgh home in the process. Unfortunately, CBS Sports brainiacs were not thinking on the fly.

They marred a superior telecast by leaving Boston 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 Reynolds and Wildcats coach Jay Wright.

Instead, oblivious to this magic moment, Verne Lundquist - who captured the drama with a spectacular night of play-by-play - threw it back to Greg Gumbel in CBS' hoops studio and there was a break for three commercials.

Gumbel set the stage for what we thought would be a return to Boston for an interview, informing viewers they had just seen "one of the great tournament games of all time."

But there would be no "let's go back to Boston." Instead, the few minutes were used to flog Sunday's tournament matchups and upcoming Saturday night shows. Programming so critical it couldn't be further delayed to air a Villanova interview.

One that would have been good for CBS' business, too. This edition of the tournament has produced few thrills. Finally, in prime time, Villanova had provided a legitimate one. A memorable highlight that, if your business is generating ratings, could have been immediately exploited by going one-on-one with Reynolds and Wright after the game.

RAF TRACK: Bill Raftery, working with Lundquist Saturday night, sensed what was unfolding and buried his bag of shtick. He resisted the temptation to 1) make himself bigger then the game and 2) remind us - over and over - what a classic confrontation we were witnessing.

In the first half, Lundquist tried goading Raftery into one of his signature calls. Raf did not take the bait. The analyst really came up big after Reynolds' winning runner with 0.5 seconds left in regulation.

There are no shortage of college basketball analysts (fill in the blanks) who would have taken the spotlight away from Reynolds and turned it on themselves, offering an over-the-top reaction. Raftery didn't.

His first instinct was to report. He immediately wondered how much time would be put back on the clock. Then, Raftery explained the one desperate option Pitt had: "A catch and a dribble is the most you can do."

Raftery and Lundquist turned in a performance equal to the competition they described. In a game with so many obvious "onions" moments, Raftery didn't break out the call until after the tilt ended.

Most players really play well, they can even play in NBA and match the talent of NBA players like Kobe Bryant which have big impact and widely known for his intellegence in basketball sports.

CBS Sports’ Ratings Rise For 2009 NCAA Basketball Regional Semi-Finals

by Bill Gorman

CBS SPORTS’ RATINGS RISE FOR COVERAGE OF REGIONAL SEMI-FINALS OF 2009 NCAA MEN’S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

Tournament-to-Date Average Ratings in Metered Markets Up 8%



CBS Sports’ exclusive live coverage of the 2009 NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship Regional Semi-Finals from the Boston and Glendale regions on Thursday, March 26 (7:00 PM-12:15 AM, ET) earned an average overnight household rating/share of 6.8/12, up +13% compared to last year’s Regional Semi-Finals Thursday night rating/share of 6.0/11 in the metered markets.



CBS Sports’ overall average overnight household rating/share for the Tournament-to-Date is a5.6/12, up +8% compared to last year’s 5.2/11 in the metered markets.



CBS Sports’ first broadcast window of the night (7:00-9:45 PM, ET) featuring Pittsburgh’s win over Xavier and Connecticut’s victory over Purdue earned an average overnight household rating/share of6.2/11, up +3% from last year’s 6.0/11 (North Carolina-Washington State and Xavier-West Virginia, OT).



The second broadcast window of the night (9:45 PM-12:15 AM, ET), which saw Villanova knock off Duke and Missouri beat Memphis, earned an average overnight household rating/share of 7.4/13, up +25%compared to last year’s 5.9/11 (Louisville-Tennessee and UCLA-Western Kentucky). This year’s 7.4/13 tied with 2005’s 7.4/12 and 2004’s 7.4/13 as the second highest rating in this game window since an 8.9/16 in 1993.

Coach Pearl to be a CBS College Sports March Madness Analyst

(CBS) -- CBS College Sports Network’s coverage of the 2009 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship continues with comprehensive programming surrounding all the regional tournament action Thursday, March 26 – Sunday, March 29.

The Network features top college coaches in-studio including Tennessee’s Bruce Pearl (3/26), Michigan’s John Beilein (3/26, 3/27), Seton Hall’s Bobby Gonzalez (3/26-3/29), Virginia Tech’s Seth Greenberg (3/26-3/29) and Cleveland State’s Gary Waters (3/28, 3/29).

Coverage begins on Thursday, March 26 (5:00-6:00 PM, ET) with NCAA MARCH MADNESS CENTRAL POWERED BY PONTIAC, bringing viewers exclusive in-progress game highlights, live look-ins, press conferences from every team at every site and expert analysis. Immediately following CBS Sports’ live game action, CBS College Sports Network airs the official highlight show of the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship, NCAA MARCH MADNESS HIGHLIGHTS POWERED BY PONTIAC.

Adam Zucker, Tracy Wolfson and Tom Hart anchor the studio programming and are joined by CBS College Sports Network analyst Steve Lappas. Below is a full programming schedule.

Thursday, March 26
5:00 – 6:00 PM / 8:00 – 8:30 PM / 10:30 PM – 12:30 AM - NCAA March Madness Central Powered by Pontiac
12:30 – 1:30 AM - NCAA March Madness Highlights Powered by Pontiac

Friday, March 27
7:00 PM – 12:30 AM - NCAA March Madness Central Powered by Pontiac
12:30 – 1:30 AM - NCAA March Madness Highlights Powered by Pontiac

Saturday, March 28
2:30 – 3:00 PM - NCAA March Madness Pregame Show Presented by State Farm
4:30 – 9:00 PM - NCAA March Madness Central Powered by Pontiac
9:00 – 9:30 PM - NCAA March Madness Highlights Powered by Pontiac

Sunday, March 29
2:00 – 7:00 PM - NCAA March Madness Central Powered by Pontiac
7:00 – 7:30 PM - NCAA March Madness Highlights Powered by Pontiac

You can see an excerpt of Coach Pearl's appearance on CBS on Volunteer TV News & Sports Overtime, along with Volunteertv.com.

Story source: http://www.volunteertv.com/sports/headlines/41849212.html

NCAA(R) March Madness(R) on Demand Traffic Up 60% After First Four Days of Tournament

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., March 23, 2009 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX/ ----CBSSports.com, in partnership with CBS Sports and the NCAA, today released traffic figures for NCAA March Madness on Demand (ncaa.com/mmod) for the first four days of the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship. In total, there were 5.6 million unique visitors to the NCAA March Madness on Demand video player, a 60% increase over 2008 figures. Additionally, there have been 6.5 million total hours of video and audio consumed thus far, a 71% increase over 2008 figures.

The continued success of NCAA March Madness on Demand builds on the growth of the broadcast of the tournament on the CBS Television Network. CBS Sports' coverage of the first and second rounds of the 2009 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship is up +6% from 2008.

NCAA March Madness on Demand traffic figures through Sunday, March 22

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., March 23, 2009 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX/ ----CBSSports.com, in partnership with CBS Sports and the NCAA, today released traffic figures for NCAA March Madness on Demand (ncaa.com/mmod) for the first four days of the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship. In total, there were 5.6 million unique visitors to the NCAA March Madness on Demand video player, a 60% increase over 2008 figures. Additionally, there have been 6.5 million total hours of video and audio consumed thus far, a 71% increase over 2008 figures.

The continued success of NCAA March Madness on Demand builds on the growth of the broadcast of the tournament on the CBS Television Network. CBS Sports' coverage of the first and second rounds of the 2009 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship is up +6% from 2008.

NCAA March Madness on Demand traffic figures through Sunday, March 22

-- 5.6 million unique visitors to the NCAA March Madness on Demand video
player (2008 figure was 3.5 million - 60% growth)

-- 6.5 million total hours of live streaming video and audio consumed
(2008 figure was 3.8 million - 71% growth)

-- 2.5 million clicks of the "Boss Button" (2008 figure was 2.5
million for entire tournament)

-- The March 19 first round game between Cal. St. Northridge and Memphis is
the most watched game thus far in the 2009 tournament.

"We could not be more pleased by the numbers being generated by NCAA March Madness on Demand," said Sean McManus, President, CBS Sports and CBS News. "Fans continue to embrace the new technologies and viewing options offered by CBS Sports. As ratings for the Network are also up 6%, the Network's NCAA bundled rights agreement has proven to be an early star in this year's championship."

"With CBS Interactive properties now reaching 15 million people a day, the internal marketing and promotion behind NCAA March Madness on Demand has reached new heights this year and is a driving factor in the product growth for this year's tournament," said Jason Kint, Senior Vice President and General Manager, CBSSports.com. "The fact that CBS Interactive produces the official athletics web sites for 43 of the 65 teams that made the tournament and 14 of the schools in the NCAA Sweet 16(R: 26.48, 0, 0%) has also served as a great promotional vehicle for NCAA March Madness on Demand."

"I believe we're all in agreement that March Madness on Demand continues to evolve as one of the most powerful and innovative platforms for basketball fans to follow the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship," said Greg Shaheen, NCAA, senior vice president for basketball and business strategies. "To see the numbers steadily increase reinforces the broad interest in the championship and the convenience MMOD offers fans in accessing every game of the NCAA Tournament."

CBS Interactive, a top 10 Internet Property worldwide, tapped into the power of its network to help drive awareness and excitement for this year's tournament both from a content integration and promotional perspective. From TV.com featuring select historical games from the Men's Final Four(R: 26.48, 0, 0%) (TV.com/ncaabb/), to leading technology and consumer electronics site CNET.com explaining all the ways that technology allows fans to follow the action away from the TV, to GameSpot, a leading video game web site, using video game simulation to help predict the outcome of the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship, the entire CBS Interactive network has promoted and marketed the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship and NCAA March Madness on Demand like never before. In addition, a comprehensive promotional campaign was developed to drive record level attendance for March Madness on Demand, including a unique All Access program that ran across CBS interactive properties.

This year's marketing program extended across CBS platforms. Promotions on CBS Television, Radio stations, Outernet and affiliates as well as the CBS Audience Network helped fuel awareness of NCAA March Madness on Demand on air and online. From promotions during The Early Show, 60 Minutes, CSI: Miami to a CBS Outdoor billboard in Times Square, the strength of CBS across all forms of media to reach consumers clearly played a pivotal role in the growth of NCAA March Madness on Demand.

The NCAA March Madness on Demand Developer Platform also continues to help drive awareness by bringing games to where the fans are. Located at ncaa.com/mmod/developer, the NCAA March Madness on Demand Developer Platform allows developers to choose from five different options to integrate live video from the 2009 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship via the NCAA March Madness on Demand video player. Partners include major sports and media websites such as ESPN.com, Yahoo! Sports, and USAToday.com; and leading social sites such as Facebook.

NCAA March Madness on Demand (MMOD: undefined, undefined, undefined%) is the Emmy award-winning video player that provides live streaming video and audio of the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship. Since its inception in 2003, MMOD traditionally provided live video of the first 56 games, starting with the first round, of the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship as they were broadcast by CBS Sports, with local broadcasts being subject to blackouts. Beginning in 2008, MMOD started showing all 63 games from the first round of the tournament through the semifinal and final games of the Men's Final Four(R: 26.48, 0, 0%), making it the only major sporting event that is broadcast live and in its entirety for free on the Internet. NCAA March Madness on Demand is available internationally as well.

In addition to video being available on Windows Media and Flash, this year NCAA March Madness on Demand users have the option to download the Microsoft Silverlight high-definition quality video player for an enhanced stream.

Both the standard video player and the high-definition quality option are offered free of charge by presenting sponsors and NCAA Corporate Champions AT&T, Coca-Cola, and Pontiac.

About CBS Interactive

CBS Interactive, a division of CBS Corporation, is the best online content network for information and entertainment. With more than 180 million people visiting its properties each month, it is the 8th largest Web property globally. Its portfolio of leading brands, which include CNET, CBS.com, CBSSports.com, GameSpot, TV.com, BNET and Last.fm, span popular categories like technology, entertainment, sports, news and business.

About the NCAA

The NCAA is a membership-led nonprofit association of colleges and universities committed to supporting academic and athletics opportunities for more than 400,000 student-athletes at more than 1,000 member colleges and universities. Each year, more than 54,000 student-athletes compete in NCAA championships in Divisions I, II and III sports. Visit www.NCAA.org and www.NCAA.com for more details about the Association, its goals and members and corporate partnerships that help support programs for student-athletes. The NCAA is proud to have the following elite companies as official Corporate Champions - AT&T, Coca-Cola and Pontiac - and the following elite companies as official Corporate Partners - Enterprise, Hershey's, The Hartford, Lowe's, Sheraton and State Farm.

NCAA, Final Four, Sweet 16, and March Madness are trademarks owned or licensed by the National Collegiate Athletic Association.

SOURCE CBSSports.com

http://www.CBSSports.com

As of Thursday, 03-19-2009 23:59, the latest Comtex SmarTrend� Alert,
an automated pattern recognition system, indicated an UPTREND on
11-28-2008 for CBS @ $6.48.

For more information on SmarTrend, contact your market data
provider or go to www.mysmartrend.com

Story source: http://www.foxbusiness.com/story/markets/industries/finance/ncaar-march-madnessr-demand-traffic--days-tournament/

CBS to air Hasbrouck story early this afternoon

by Mark McGuire

DAYTON, Ohio – Siena senior captain Kenny Hasbrouck and his family will be the subjects of a CBS Sports report to air at halftime of today’s Syracuse-Arizona State game. That game, which is slated to start at 12:10 this afternoon, will be at halftime at approximately 12:50 p.m.

CBS, tournament intertwined — for now

by:Tim Lemke

There are some things about the NCAA tournament that never change. Fans always can count on first-round upsets, buzzer-beaters and Cinderellas playing into the second week. There are office pools and workers playing hooky.
And then there's CBS.

Since 1982, the network has televised at least some portion of the tournament, essentially showing the event in its entirety since 1991. Its current contract with the NCAA runs through 2013, making the tournament one of just a handful of sporting events to have had the same broadcast home for more than two decades.

"The fan who watches us now views us as an integrated whole," said Mike Aresco, senior vice president of programming for CBS Sports. "It's got a fabric, and as Winston Churchill might say, 'It has a theme.' This has a theme, and people really enjoy that story line. And I think the NCAA has agreed with us over the years."

Indeed, CBS and the NCAA tournament are very much interconnected, with the network repeatedly signing long, lucrative deals to keep the television rights to the three-week event. The current deal, which began in 2003, stretches for 11 years and is valued at $6 billion - about $545 million annually. The NCAA could opt out of the deal after 2010, but there is no indication it plans to do so.

"We've managed to hold on to most of our properties for real long," CBS Sports president Sean McManus said. "With a brief interlude with the NFL, that's managed to go on for decades, the PGA Tour, the PGA Championships, SEC football... we're in the business of long-term relationships, and we've done good deals for ourselves for ourselves and our partners. We're so intertwined that it would be very disconcerting for another network to broadcast the tournament."

There are rumblings, however, that CBS could face stiff competition when it seeks to renew its deal with the NCAA after 2013. Network officials said they have had no formal talks about an extension but expect to sit down with the NCAA within the next year. Sources in the sports broadcast industry said the network likely will need to prepare itself for competition from ESPN, which also has shown a willingness to bid aggressively for major sports properties.
In November, the cable network outbid Fox for future rights to college football's Bowl Championship Series, which includes four major bowl games and a title game. Industry experts said the BCS deal demonstrated ESPN's financial edge because, as a cable network, it receives carriage fees as well as advertising.

Associated Press CBS' Jim Nantz (left) and Clark Kellogg
ESPN officials declined to comment on whether it would pursue rights for the NCAA tournament.
"ESPN gives such a great look because of the multidimension of their platform," said John Rowady, president of rEvolution, a sports marketing agency in Chicago. "Clearly, with the streamlining of the ESPN brand and their ability to do things is a massive, massive portal that CBS straight up as a network doesn't have to fund some of the financial models of these guarantees."

But Rowady pointed out that CBS typically has dominated sports television in both March and April because the tournament precedes the network's coverage of golf's Masters tournament. It is a combination CBS would be loath to lose.
"It's one of the cornerstones of their business, and it's what they're about," Rowady said. "So I think they're going to be a very tough incumbent to beat."
Aresco said CBS is confident it will be able to stand up to any competing bids for the tournament, including ESPN's.

"I don't want to sound the least bit arrogant, but I do think there is a place for broadcast with an event of this magnitude and this duration," he said. "Remember, the BCS is four games. And the rights fee, while it's healthy, it's not like the rights fee for the tournament. And our guys can sell it far better than any other cable entity can sell it."

CBS Sports gets a March Madness iPhone app

by Jessica Dolcourt

On Thursday, CBS Sports Mobile released a March Madness On Demand application for the iPhone and iPod Touch. Tracking the NCAA's college basketball tournament, March Madness, CBS Sports' iPhone app will stream videos of the games live over Wi-Fi, and will stream audio commentary if you've got a 3G or EDGE connection.

In addition to video or audio streaming, the March Madness On Demand app will show updated scores of ongoing games, news stories, bracket information, team stats, preview segments, and video recaps of past games in a screen dedicated to highlights.

The app's video and audio streams will cover every game aired live between March 19 and April 6--including the NCAA Sweet 16, Elite 8, Final Four, and National Championship games. CBS Sports NCAA March Madness On Demand is available for $4.99 through the iTunes App Store.