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Some Rare Saturday Links

It’s been a long time since I was able to provide Saturday linkage. Many times, it’s due to the fact I try to sleep in or my weekend was planned for me behind my back and I have to play chauffeur. Anyway, I’m able to provide some links and since I did not do the megalinks on Friday, I’ll give you this as a replacement, although the number of stories won’t equal Friday’s usual amount.

We begin with Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch who mentions that NFL Network came close to firing Warren Sapp after he tweeted that former New Orleans Saints tight end Jeremy Shockey “snitched” about the team’s bounties to the NFL officials.

Can you believe Bob Costas turned 60 this week??!! Well, he did. MLB Network’s senior editorial director Elliot Kalb who has worked with Bob at NBC writes this tribute.

From the Poynter Institute, ESPN Ombudsman Jason Fry looks at why ESPN expunged a Mark Cuban gay joke from a Bill Simmons Grantland podcast.

George Winslow at Broadcasting & Cable says smartphones and tablets helped to drive a large percentage of traffic for March Madness Live online.

Mike Reynolds from Mulitchannel News writes that the NCAA Tournament saw a ratings decline from the year before for the first night of the Sweet 16 on Thursday.

R. Thomas Umstead of Multichannel says a veteran cable TV programming exec has been promoted within the ranks of NBC Sports.

At the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center, Dave Kindred mourns the passing of former Atlanta Journal-Constitution columnist Furman Bisher.

Eric Goldschein from SportsGrid has video of the Kazakhstan national anthem being played for a medalist of a shooting competition in Kuwait. Problem was that it was the version written for the movie “Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan” and not the real Kazakhstan national anthem. That’s funny.

Sports Video Group offers a review of the March Madness Live iPad app.

Busted Coverage says a Spokane, WA local sports anchor unwittingly decided to crack on Lesley Visser’s face.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell says the harsh punishments handed down by the NFL to the New Orleans Saints over Bountygate were likely tied to concussion lawsuits.

Chad Finn of the Boston Globe speaks with CBS/Turner’s NCAA Tournament East Regional crew of Uncle Verne Lundquist, Bill Raftery and Lesley Visser.

Chad has a few more things with Verne and Bill that didn’t make the column.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times looks at MLB Network producing and staffing a pregame show for Fox Saturday Baseball.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union says the local CBS affiliate has been taping its late newscast for nights it follows NCAA Tournament action.

Ken McMillan of the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record notes that the WFAN Mets Radio Network is not big at all.

Dave Hughes from DCRTV.com has the latest in Baltimore-DC sports media in Press Box.

Jon Solomon of the Birmingham (AL) News talks with Texas A&M’s athletic director about entering the SEC and why the Longhorn Network led to the school’s departure from the Big 12.

David Barron at the Houston Chronicle notes that Texans radio voice Marc Vandermeer is leaving his radio talk show to focus squarely on the NFL team.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes about Fox and MLB Network collaborating on a pregame show.

Dan Caesar of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch talks with Turner Sports reporter Craig Sager who loves his job and picking out loud clothes for every game.

John Maffei of the North County Times writes about San Diego’s sports radio shuffles.

Tom Hoffarth at the Los Angeles Daily News has a story on the Brothers Waltrip who are laughing it up at Fox.

Tom has more with Darrell and Michael Waltrip in his blog.

Sports Media Watch says ESPN is seeing a ratings surge for its studio shows thanks to a busy NFL offseason.

SMW says viewership is up for the NCAA Women’s Tournament on ESPN2.

Steve Lepore has a suggestion for ESPN on how to make the NCAA Hockey Tournament more TV friendly.

Joe Favorito looks at how NFL news broke this week.

Ryan Yoder at Awful Announcing notes that Around the Horn host Tony Reali apparently had an on-the-job injury this week.

I’m going to end the Saturday links there.

CBS/Turner Announces Tip Times for Elite 8 on Sunday, March 25

We now have the official tip times from CBS/Turner for the second half of the Regional Finals this weekend. As is the case for Saturday, CBS will handle the Midwest and South Regions as the Turner networks’ commitments are over.

So the South Regional Final between Baylor and overall Tournament #1 seed Kentucky with Jim Nantz, Clark Kellogg and Tracy Wolfson will be on the call on CBS at 2:20 p.m.

And the Midwest Regional Final featuring two historic programs, Kansas and North Carolina will be scheduled for 5:05 p.m. to called by Marv Albert, Steve Kerr and Craig Sager.

First time in years that Jim Nantz and Clark Kellogg won’t be calling the late Sunday game. But this is the correct scheduling.

The NCAA Tournament coverage on Sunday begins with NCAA Tip-Off on truTV at 1 p.m. ET and CBS begins at 2 p.m. with Road to the Final Four.

Here’s the CBS/Turner announcement on the Sunday tip times.

CBS SPORTS AND TURNER SPORTS ANNOUNCE TIP-TIMES FOR REGIONAL FINALS ON SUNDAY, MARCH 25 ON CBS

Turner Sports and CBS Sports announce tip-times and match-ups for the Regional Finals of the 2012 NCAA® Division I Men’s Basketball Championship on Sunday, March 25 (2:00-7:00 PM, ET), on CBS. Kentucky will take on Baylor in the first game (2:20 PM, ET) followed by North Carolina playing Kansas (5:05 PM, ET).

Sunday’s coverage begins on truTV with NCAA Tip-Off (1:00-2:00 PM, ET) with Greg Gumbel along with analysts Charles Barkley, Greg Anthony, Kenny Smith and Kansas State head coach Frank Martin.

Below are the tip-times and announce/production assignments for the Regional Final games on Sunday. Tip times for the Final Four games on Saturday, March 31 will be announced after the conclusion of Sunday’s games.

Additionally, NCAA March Madness® Live provides a robust suite of products including live streaming video of all 67 games from the 2012 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship; personal channel lineup (MyChannel) features and schedule updates; social media integration; and real-time brackets, scores and stats across online and mobile platforms.

REGIONAL FINAL GAMES
SUNDAY, MARCH 25

Time (ET)	Network		Site	Game	Play-by-Play/Analyst//Reporter
2:20 PM	CBS		Atlanta	Kentucky vs. Baylor	Jim Nantz/Clark Kellogg//Tracy Wolfson
5:05 PM	CBS		St. Louis	North Carolina vs. Kansas	Marv Albert/Steve Kerr//Craig Sager

And we’re done.

College Basketball Viewing Picks For 03/24 & 03/25/2012, All Times Eastern

Saturday, March 24

Men’s
NCAA Division II Championship
Bank of Kentucky Center, Highland Heights, KY
Montevallo vs. Western Washington — CBS, 1 p.m.

NCAA Division I Tournament
Elite 8
West Region
US Airways Center, Phoenix, AZ
Announcers: CBS/Turner — Kevin Harlan/Len Elmore/Reggie Miller/Marty Snider (sidelines); Dial Global Radio — Dave Sims/Bill Frieder
#4 Florida vs. #7 Louisville — CBS, 4:30 p.m.

East Region
TD Bank Garden, Boston, MA
Announcers: CBS/Turner — Verne Lundquist/Bill Raftery/Lesley Visser (sidelines); Dial Global Radio — Kevin Kugler/Pete Gillen
#1 Syracuse vs. #2 Ohio State — CBS, 7:05 p.m.

College GameDay — ESPN2, 11 a.m.
NCAA Tip-Off — truTV, noon
Road to the Final Four — CBS, 3 p.m.

Women’s
NCAA Tournament
Sweet 16
Des Moines, IA Region
Wells Fargo Arena, Des Moines, IA
Announcers: Beth Mowins/Stephanie White/Samantha Steele (sidelines)
#2 Tennessee vs. #11 Kansas — ESPN, noon
#1 Baylor vs. #4 Georgia Tech — ESPN, 2:30 p.m.

Fresno, CA Region
Save Mart Center, Fresno, CA
Announcers: Dave Pasch/Debbie Antonelli/Heather Cox (sidelines)
#2 Duke vs. #3 St. John’s — ESPN, 9 p.m.
#1 Stanford vs. #5 South Carolina — ESPN, 11:30 p.m.

Sunday, March 25

Men’s
NCAA Division I Tournament
Elite 8
Midwest Region
Edward Jones Dome, St. Louis, MO
Announcers: CBS/Turner — Marv Albert/Steve Kerr/Craig Sager (sidelines); Dial Global Radio — Wayne Larrivee/Fran Fraschilla
CBS, 2:10 p.m.

South Region
Georgia Dome, Atlanta, GA
Announcers: CBS/Turner — Jim Nantz/Clark Kellogg/Tracy Wolfson (sidelines); Dial Global Radio — Ian Eagle/John Thompson
CBS, 4:55 p.m.

NCAA Tip-Off — truTV, 1 p.m.
The Best of College Basketball 2012 — CBS, 1 p.m.
Road to the Final Four — CBS, 2 p.m.

Women’s
NCAA Tournament
Sweet Sixteen
Raleigh, NC Region
PNC Arena, Raleigh, NC
Announcers: Pam Ward/Rebecca Lobo/Allison Williams (sidelines)
#2 Maryland vs. #3 Texas A&M — ESPN, noon
#1 Notre Dame vs. #5 St. Bonaventure — ESPN2, 2:30 p.m.

Kingston, RI Region
Ryan Center, University of Rhode Island, Kingston, RI
Announcers: Dave O’Brien/Doris Burke/Holly Rowe
#1 UConn vs. #4 Penn State — ESPN2, 4:30 p.m.
#2 Kentucky vs. #11 Gonzaga — ESPN2, 7 p.m.

CBS/Turner Announces Tip Times for Elite 8 on Saturday, March 24

Ok, CBS/Turner has announced the tip times for the Regional Finals on Saturday.

CBS will handle the rest of the basketball action from Saturday all the way to the Final Four in New Orleans next week. It’ll all begin with NCAA Tip-Off at noon ET on truTV, then it’ll be the NCAA Men’s Division II Championship at 1 p.m. on CBS.

The Road to the Final Four pregame show airs on CBS at 3 p.m., then the West Regional Finals between Florida and Louisville airs at 4:30 p.m. then the East Regional Final between Ohio State and Syracuse will tip off at 7:05 p.m.

We have the announcing assignments and official press release from CBS/Turner.

CBS SPORTS AND TURNER SPORTS ANNOUNCE TIP-TIMES FOR REGIONAL FINALS ON SATURDAY, MARCH 24, ON CBS

Turner Sports and CBS Sports announce tip-times and match-ups for the Regional Finals of the 2012 NCAA^® Division I Men’s Basketball Championship on Saturday, March 24 (4:30-9:00 PM, ET), on CBS. Louisville will take on Florida in the first game (4:30 PM, ET) followed by Syracuse playing Ohio State at (7:05 PM, ET).

Saturday’s coverage begins on truTv with  NCAA Tip-Off (12:00 NOON-1:00 PM, ET) with Ernie Johnson, Seth Davis, Steve Smith and VCU head coach Shaka Smart. The NCAA Division II Men’s Basketball Championship (1:00-3:00 PM, ET) tips-off the day’s action on CBS followed by THE ROAD TO THE FINAL FOUR^®, hosted by Greg Gumbel along with analysts Charles Barkley, Greg Anthony, Kenny Smith and Kansas State head coach Frank Martin (3:00-4:30 PM, ET).

Below are the tip-times and announce assignments for Saturday’s Regional Final games. Tip times for Sunday’s Regional Final games will be announced after the conclusion of Friday’s games.

Additionally, NCAA March Madness^® Live provides a robust suite of products including live streaming video of all 67 games from the 2012 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship; personal channel lineup (MyChannel) features and schedule updates; social media integration; and real-time brackets, scores and stats across online and mobile platforms.

REGIONAL FINAL GAMES
SATURDAY, MARCH 24

Time (ET)	Network	Site	Game	Play-by-Play/Analyst//Reporter
4:30 PM	CBS	Phoenix	Louisville vs. Florida	Kevin Harlan/Reggie Miller/Len Elmore//Marty Snider
7:05 PM	CBS	Boston	Syracuse vs. Ohio State	Verne Lundquist/Bill Raftery//Lesley Visser

That will do it.

CBS/Turner Adds Coaches Shaka Smart & Frank Martin To Their Studios

This from CBS/Turner Sports, VCU coach Shaka Smart and Kansas State coach Frank Martin, he of the massive sideline death stare, will be guest analysts for the NCAA Tournament starting tonight. Smart will join the TBS crew in Atlanta fronted by Ernie Johnson, Jr., Seth Davis and Steve Smith. Martin will join the CBS studio in New York consisting of Greg Gumbel, Greg Anthony, Kenny “The Jet” Smith and Charles Barkley. Martin will be with CBS for the Elite 8 Saturday and Sunday. Smart will be with TBS from Thursday through Saturday.

Your quick blurb from CBS/Turner on the next four days of NCAA Tournament coverage.

JUST IN…

…from Turner Sports and CBS Sports:

CBS Sports and Turner Sports have added Kansas State head coach Frank Martin and VCU head coach Shaka Smart as guest studio analysts for the 2012 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship, airing across TBS, CBS, TNT and truTV.

Martin will serve as a guest analyst in the New York studio, joining host Greg Gumbel and analysts Charles Barkley, Greg Anthony and Kenny Smith, for the Regional Finals on Saturday, March 24 and Sunday, March 25, which will air on CBS.

Smart joins the Atlanta studio team of host Ernie Johnson and analysts Steve Smith and Seth Davis, working the Regional Semi-Final and Finals on Thursday, March 22, Friday, March 23 and Saturday, March 24, which will air across CBS and TBS.

And we move on to other topics.

Some Long Overdue Linkage

Due to crazy personal schedules on Tuesday and Wednesday, I wasn’t able to update the site as much as I would like. I apologize to you as I’ve been trying to keep you apprised of the latest sports media news. A few housekeeping notes, first I did some Sports Media Thoughts earlier this morning and you read them here.

Matt Yoder at Awful Announcing was kind to ask me on his podcast and we recorded it on Wednesday while I was on the road so the phone quality isn’t great (damn you, AT&T 3G). You can listen to what Matt and I discussed at the Awful Announcing site.

And lastly, Keith Thibault and I recorded our latest Sports Media Weekly podcast this week and our guest is Ken Schott from the Schenectady Gazette and the subject is college hockey coverage.

Now to our links.

Michael Smith & John Ourand from Sports Business Journal look at the possibility of ESPN and Fox Sports teaming up once again, this time to control the media rights to the Big 12 Conference. The two companies combined for the Pac-12 last year in an attempt to keep NBC Sports out of college sports and it appears the two are back at work again on the Big 12 rights.

Sports Illustrated’s Jon Wertheim makes a very good point on the perceived conflict of interests of ESPN’s tennis announcers and the players to which they’re connected, case in point, Mary Jo Fernandez seen sitting with Roger Federer’s wife during the BNP Paribas Open last week on ABC.

Andrew McCalvy at MLB.com writes that Milwaukee Brewers Hall of Fame voice Bob Uecker will be honored with a statue outside Miller Park. Congrats to Uke on a well deserved honor. We all remember his character, Harry Doyle from the “Major League” movies and his great quote, “Juuuuust a bit outside.” Classic.

Interesting study from the Media Behavior Institute which shows a great majority still watch the NCAA Tournament on TV, but online numbers comprise a large chunk.

Ben Grossman at Broadcasting & Cable reports that Major League Baseball is looking at placing postseason games on MLB Network to boost its subscriber numbers.

Mike Reynolds at Multichannel News writes that MLB Network will produce a pregame show for Fox Saturday Baseball.

Tom Comi of Channel Guide Magazine would like a halt to the Tim Tebow media circus.

Mike Miller at NBC’s College Basketball Talk notes that the NCAA Tournament ratings on CBS/Turner are just about even with last year.

Eric Goldschein of SportsGrid has video of ESPN’s Mike Tirico losing it during last night’s Lakers-Mavericks game.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell says Wheaties may be dying a very slow and painful death.

Ronnie Ramos in the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center says coaches and players are learning the proper use of Twitter.

Greg Wyshynski of Puck Daddy notes that Rogers Sportsnet picked up on a popular internet meme and used it in an on-screen graphic.

To Fishbowl NY where Jerry Barmash talks with Kenny Albert.

Newsday’s Neil Best writes that NBC Sports Network set a ratings record for hockey in NYC.

Neil notes that ESPN has a new head man-in-charge.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union writes that CBS/Turner will bring in two coaches as guest analysts for the NCAA Tournament.

Pete says ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball crew will be busy in the first week of the MLB season.

Keith Groller at the Allentown (PA) Morning Call says Lehigh left an impression on CBS during the NCAA Tournament.

Matt Brooks of the Washington Post’s Early Lead has your viewing guide for tonight’s Sweet 16 in the NCAA Tournament.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has links to some of the best columns from the late Furman Bisher.

Some of Bisher’s friends pay tribute to the man.

The AJC has a gallery of pictures showing Bisher throughout his career.

Mel Bracht of the Oklahoman looks at HBO Real Sports’ update on the 2001 plane crash that hit the Oklahoma State basketball program extremely hard.

Mel says local viewers chose Fox Sports Oklahoma over ESPN for two Oklahoma City Thunder games last week.

David Jablonski of the Dayton (OH) Daily News says a local man leads the millions of entries in ESPN’s Bracketology contest.

John Kiesewetter at the Cincinnati Enquirer is not a fan of NCAA Tournament scheduling.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes that the radio analyst for Bucks games has been off the air since last month.

Bob says former Brewers voice Matt Vasgersian will host the MLB Network-produced MLB on Fox pregame show.

Tom Ginnetti of the Chicago Sun-Times remembers pioneering sportswriter Lacy J. Banks who died Wednesday.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News has video of Bob Costas pontificating on the Saints suspensions.

The Toronto Globe and Mail’s Bruce Dowbiggin writes about the media fighting over staged NHL fights.

The Toronto Sports Media blog explores the local newspapers imploring the Maple Leafs to apologize to their fans for missing the playoffs.

Sports Media Watching notes that ratings on NBA TV are up.

Media Rantz says ESPN got fooled by a fake Adam Schefter Twitter account during Tim Tebow coverage last night.

We have a picture of that fake Adam Schefter tweet. “Adarn Schefter”?

Ben Koo of Awful Announcing explores the Gus Johnson departure from CBS and how it may leave him without his signature event for a long time to come.

The Convoluted Mind of a Single Man site looks at the innovations John Madden brought to NFL broadcasting.

Dave Kohl at the Broadcast Booth says league-owned networks are making big strides in production and programming.

And that will finish our links for today.

Three Quick Thursday Sports Media Thoughts

A couple of sports media thoughts on this early Thursday morning in bullet form.

• The Sports Emmy Award nominations are out and while most honor the Best in Sports Broadcasting, they always have a few mind-boggling nods and this year is no exception. While I can overlook a nomination for hockey charlatan Pierre McGuire in the Sports Reporter category, I cannot ignore the nod to demagogue Skippy Bayless who somehow was nominated for Outstanding Sports Personality — Studio Analyst.

  Besides yelling and inexplicably latching onto Tim Tebow, what does Skippy is bloviate and make a spectacle of himself. He makes himself the story instead of covering it. The Academy got this nomination wrong. I just hope Skippy isn’t labeled “Emmy Award-winning” this year or any other year.

• As we approach the Sweet 16 of this year’s NCAA Tournament, let me hand out a couple of accolades and a couple of darts.

  My first accolade is to the freedom of choice viewers have. With four networks airing games now, we can switch to whatever game we choose. And thanks to the scoreboard on top of the screen, we’re kept up to date on the other games. Social media is also a help especially when someone tweets that there’s an upset brewing, we can switch channels. CBS/Turner is doing a good job there.

  Second accolade goes to Brian Anderson who did well in his CBS/Turner debut. He’s had a nice coming out party for Turner, being TBS’ main announcer for last year’s MLB postseason and now for Turner on the NCAA Tournament. Very nice job.

  A dart goes to analyst Bob Wenzel for his extremely pedestrian announcing. He really doesn’t too much to the broadcasts unless you like incessant yelling or trying too hard to be witty going into break. The end of the Bob Wenzel experience cannot come quickly enough.

  The last dart goes to Reggie Miller. He has added very little to the team of Kevin Harlan and Len Elmore.

• Happened to find one of my 1980′s crushes, Kathleen Sullivan on Twitter. Kathleen was a double pioneer in the 1980′s, being one of the very first anchors when CNN began and she was the first woman to host an Olympic broadcast on American television, working the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo and the Summer Olympics in Los Angeles the same year for ABC. Hard to believe that women had hardly been on the air during the Olympics prior to 1984, but Kathleen certainly opened a door. In fact, she was nominated for a Sports Emmy Award for her work on the Olympics, she was that good.

  I was a big fan when she was on CNN, ABC and CBS. And Kathleen remains a big sports fan. Glad to have found her on Twitter.

That will end the thoughts.

CBS Sports is Proud of Its 26 Sports Emmy Award Nominations

CBS Sports is that organization that just keeps chugging along. It was in a very bleak period from 1994-1998 when it lost the NFL, no NBA, was outbid for the NHL and seemed to heading in downward spiral. But since Sean McManus came on board as its President and now Chairman, the division not only re-obtained the NFL, became a player in college football, kept its PGA Tour commitments, kept the NCAA Tournament thanks to its partnership with Turner Sports, added Showtime Sports to its arsenal and now has CBS Sports Network.

For the 33rd Sports Emmy Awards, CBS and its affiliated networks, Showime and CBSSports.com have received 26 Sports Emmy Award nods, third among the sports network groups behind ESPN and the NBC Sports Group.

Some of CBS’ nominations include Live Sports Special (The Masters), Playoff Coverage (SEC Championship), Studio Host (James Brown), Play-by-Play (Jim Nantz and Marv Albert), Game Analyst (Gary Danielson), Sports Reporter (Tracy Wolfson), Weekly Studio Show (with Showtime for Inside the NFL) and Sports Documentary (again with Showtime for Game of Honor).

In addition, the Army-Navy game received multiple technical nominations.

Here’s the CBS Sports press release.

JIM NANTZ, JAMES BROWN, GARY DANIELSON AND TRACY WOLFSON LEAD CBS’s 26 NOMINATIONS FOR 2011 SPORTS EMMY AWARDS

SHOWTIME/CBS Sports Garner Five Nominations for Epic Army-Navy Documentary A GAME OF HONOR”
CBS Sports’ Coverage of NCAA Tournament, Masters^®, SEC Football and Army-Navy Game Also Receive Nods to Highlight Network’s Other Nominations

Jim Nantz, James Brown, Gary Danielson and Tracy Wolfson lead the list of CBS’s 26 nominations for the 2011 Sports Emmy Awards to be presented on April 30 in New York City.  Nantz, who won the 2008 and 2009 Emmy Award for Outstanding Sports Personality -– PLAY-BY-PLAY, once again earned a nomination in that category. Brown’s nomination also is in the category in which he won in 2007, Outstanding Sports Personality -– STUDIO HOST, for THE NFL TODAY and INSIDE THE NFL on Showtime, while Danielson earned a nomination for Outstanding Sports Personality -– SPORTS EVENT ANALYST and Wolfson gained a nod for Outstanding Sports Personality -– SPORTS REPORTER. In addition, Marv Albert (CBS/TBS/TNT) earned a nomination for Outstanding Sports Personality – PLAY-BY-PLAY.

Among the other nominations for CBS Sports include multiple nods for its collaboration with Showtime on the epic Army-Navy documentary A GAME OF HONOR. The documentary garnered five nominations:

CBS Sports, teaming up with Turner Sports, also gained multiple nominations for its coverage of the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship for Outstanding SHORT FEATURE (Human Highlight Reel – Manny Ohonme: The Great Samaritan); Outstanding LONG FEATURE (NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament – Amongst Friends: A Story of Loss and Healing); Outstanding TECHNICAL TEAM STUDIO (NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament – Road to the Final Four) and Outstanding NEW APPROACHES SPORTS EVENT COVERAGE (March Madness on Demand –- NCAA.com/CBS Sports/Turner Sports).

In addition, CBS Sports’ coverage of the Masters® earned multiple nominations for Outstanding LIVE SPORTS SPECIAL and The George Wensel TECHNICAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARD (The Masters 3D Coverage –- CBS Sports/ESPN3D). And the Network’s coverage of the Army-Navy football game received three nominations for Outstanding OPEN/TEASE; Outstanding Post Produced AUDIO/SOUND and Outstanding MUSIC COMPOSITION/DIRECTION/LYRICS.

Rounding out CBS Sports’ nominations are Outstanding PLAYOFF COVERAGE – SEC Football Championship Game (Georgia vs. LSU); Outstanding STUDIO SHOW – WEEKLY – INSIDE THE NFL (Showtime/CBS Sports); and OUTSTANDING LIVE EVENT TURNAROUND (Tour de France -– CBS Sports/Versus).

CBS’ Showtime, along with MLB Productions, earned three nominations for its series The Franchise: A Season with the San Francisco Giants for Outstanding Post Produced AUDIO/SOUND; Outstanding MUSIC COMPOSITION/DIRECTION/LYRICS and Outstanding EDITED SPORTS SERIES/Anthology.

NFL Media Group Combines For 14 Sports Emmy Award Nods

NFL Media which consists of NFL Network, NFL Films and NFL.com received a total of 14 Sports Emmy Award nominations Tuesday.

This includes Outstanding Game Analyst for Mike Mayock of NFL Network who did great work on Thursday Night Football in 2011 stabilizing a position that had been in flux since Cris Collinsworth left for NBC’s Sunday Night Football.

NFL Films had several nominations in several different categories for various programs including Inside the NFL on Showtime, NFL Turning Point for Versus and A Football Life for NFL Network.

We have the press release from the National Football League regarding all of the Sports Emmy Award nominations for NFL Media.

NFL MEDIA SCORES 14 SPORTS EMMY NOMINATIONS

TWO NOMINATIONS FOR “A FOOTBALL LIFE”
TWO NFL FILMS’ PRODUCED SHOWS NOMINATED FOR OUTSTANDING SPORTS SERIES
|ANALYST MIKE MAYOCK NOMINATED FOR FIRST SEASON ON “THURSDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL”

NFL Media, comprised of NFL Network, NFL Films and NFL.com, recorded 14 Sports Emmy Award nominations, the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences announced today.

The critically acclaimed NFL Network/NFL Films A Football Life series was recognized in its debut season with two nominations — in the Outstanding Sports Anthology Series category as well as for the “Meet Bill Belichick” promotional announcement/commercial.

NFL Network analyst Mike Mayock was nominated as Outstanding Event Analyst for his first season in the Thursday Night Football booth.

For the second time in the show’s two seasons, the NFL Network/NFL.com production The NFL Season: A Biography received a nomination in the Outstanding New Approaches Sports Programming category. NFL Network/NFL.com received a second nomination in the category for the new Football Freakonomics series.

NFL Network earned recognition in the writing category for the “Lombardi Returns” feature on NFL GameDay Morning and for Outstanding Edited Sports Special for “Sharpe Focus: Journey to Canton.” In addition, the NFL GameDay Morning “Carpool” commercial was nominated.

NFL Films, which has won 105 Sports Emmy awards, is the only company to produce two shows nominated in the Outstanding Sports Anthology Series category and is the only with nominated programs produced for three TV networks. In addition to A Football Life, NFL Films earned a nomination in the anthology series category for the new NFL Turning Point show, which it produces with VERSUS, which was rebranded NBC Sports Network earlier this year. NFL Films also was nominated in the Outstanding Studio Show/Weekly category for Inside the NFL, which it produces along with Showtime and CBS.

NFL Network and NFL Films also gained recognition for NFL Films Presents: Shots of the Season (Outstanding Camera Work), Men of Mettle – Ed Sabol’s Last Football Movie (Outstanding Music Composition/Direction/Lyrics), and NFL Films Presents: Super Bowl XLV and Sound FX: All Access in the Outstanding Post Produced Audio category.

The 33nd Annual Sports Emmys Awards will be presented on Monday, April 30 in New York City at the Frederick P. Rose Hall, Home of Jazz at Lincoln Center.

Following is a list of the nominations:

OUTSTANDING EDITED SPORTS SERIES/ANTHOLOGY

A Football Life (NFL Network/NFL Films)
NFL Turning Point (VERSUS/NFL Films)

OUTSTANDING SPORTS PERSONALITY – EVENT ANALYST

Mike Mayock (NFL Network)

OUTSTANDING NEW APPROACHES SPORTS PROGRAMMING

Football Freakonomics (NFL Network/NFL.com)
The NFL Season: A Biography (NFL Network/NFL.com)

OUTSTANDING STUDIO SHOW – WEEKLY

Inside the NFL (Showtime/CBS Sports/NFL Films)

OUTSTANDING EDITED SPORTS SPECIAL

Sharpe Focus: Journey to Canton (NFL Network)

THE DICK SCHAAP WRITING AWARD

NFL GameDay Morning: Lombardi Returns (NFL Network)

OUTSTANDING SPORTS PROMOTIONAL ANNOUNCEMENT-INSTITUTIONAL

NFL GameDay Morning “Carpool” (NFL Network/Grey)

OUTSTANDING SPORTS PROMOTIONAL ANNOUNCEMENT-EPISODIC

Bill Belichick: A Football Life – “Meet Bill Belichick” (NFL Network/NFL Films)

OUTSTANDING CAMERA WORK

NFL Films Presents: Shots of the Season (NFL Network/NFL Films)

OUTSTANDING MUSIC COMPOSITION/DIRECTION/LYRICS

Men of Mettle – Ed Sabol’s Last Football Movie (NFL Network/NFL Films)

OUTSTANDING POST PRODUCED AUDIO/SOUND

NFL Films Presents: Super Bowl XLV (NFL Network/NFL Films)
Sound FX: All Access (NFL Network/NFL Films)

One more Sports Emmy Award nomination post is on the way.

33rd Annual Sports Emmy Nominations Announced

We have the nominations, all 170 in 33 different categories, for the 33rd Annual Sports Emmy Awards. They just came out today. There are some surprises like massive hockey charlatan Pierre McGuire nominated in the Sports Reporter category and for some really strange reason, Skippy Bayless of ESPN2′s First Take was nominated for Best Studio Analyst. What analysis does he do besides yelling and having massive manlove for Tim Tebow?

There are some of the usual suspects are nominated, Bob Costas for Best Studio Host, Al Michaels in Play-by-Play, Cris Collinsworth for both Studio and Game Analyst.

Some of the nominations I agree with include Mike Mayock for Best Game Analyst, College GameDay and Football Night in America as Best Studio Shows and all of the movies in the Sports Documentary category. Sports documentaries were strong this year and I have trouble picking one although Catching Hell, the ESPN Films effort on Steve Bartman and the Chicago Cubs might be the weakest of the bunch, but the doc was still very good.

Ok, get ready to scroll, the entire list is below. We do need a page break so the list of nominees will after the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences press releases.

THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF TELEVISION ARTS & SCIENCES ANNOUNCES THE NOMINEES FOR THE 33^RD ANNUAL SPORTS EMMY® AWARDS

Winners to be Honored During the April 30^th Ceremony At Frederick P. Rose Hall, Home of Jazz at Lincoln Center
Jack Whitaker to Receive Lifetime Achievement Award

New York, NY – March 20, 2012 – The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) today announced the nominees for the 33^rd Annual Sports Emmy® Awards.

More than 170 nominees were announced in 33 categories including outstanding live sports special, live series, sports documentary, studio show, promotional announcements, play-by-play personality and studio analyst.  The Awards will be given out at the prestigious Frederick P. Rose Hall, Home of Jazz at Lincoln Center located in the Time Warner Center on April 30^th, 2012 in New York City.

This year’s Lifetime Achievement Award for Sports will go to the Sports Commentator and Essayist, Jack Whitaker.

“This is an outstanding year for the sports community and for The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences,” said Malachy Wienges, Chairman, NATAS. “The entries received in this year’s Sports Emmys resulted in a record 175 nominees, illustrating the quality of these entries.  We are also honoring Jack Whitaker with our Lifetime Achievement Award.  I had the pleasure of working with Jack for eighteen years at CBS, and Jack is a sports icon and a class act.”

In addition to Jack Whitaker, many of the today’s leading sports broadcasters, personalities and television professionals will be in attendance as presenters at the event.

The networks of ESPN (ESPN, ESPN 2, ABC, ESPN 3D & espn.com) lead the nomination totals with 55, the NBC Sports Group (NBC, Versus, Golf Channel & nbcsports.com) garnered 32, CBS (CBS, Showtime, CBSSports.com) entries received 26 nominations, while Turner Sports (TNT, TBS, NBA TV, NBA.com & truTV) have 22.

A complete list of all nominees is attached below.

33^rd Annual Sports Emmy Award Nominations by Network Group

ESPN (ESPN, ESPN 2, ABC, ESPN 3D, espn.com) – 55
NBC Sports Group (NBC, Versus, Golf Channel, nbcsports.com) – 32
CBS (CBS, Showtime, CBSSports.com) – 26
Turner Sports (TNT, TBS, NBA TV, NBA.com, truTV) – 22
HBO Sports – 19
FOX Sports Media Group (FOX, SPEED) – 16
NFL Network – 12
MLB Network – 8
DIRECTV – 2
MLB Advanced Media (MLB.com, MLBAM) – 2
NFL.com – 2
NCAA.com – 1
PGA.com – 1

33^rd Annual Sports Emmy Award Nominations by Network

ESPN – 36
NBC – 22
HBO Sports – 19
CBS – 15
FOX – 15
TNT – 15
ESPN2 – 14
NFL NETWORK – 12
SHOWTIME – 10
MLB NETWORK – 8
VERSUS – 7  
TBS – 3
ABC – 2   
DIRECTV – 2
ESPN 3D – 2
GOLF CHANNEL – 2
NBA TV – 2
NFL.COM – 2
CBSSPORTS.COM – 1
ESPN.COM – 1
MLB.COM – 1
MLBAM – 1
NBA.COM – 1
NBCSPORTS.COM – 1
NCAA.COM – 1
PGA.COM – 1
SPEED – 1
truTV – 1

BREAKDOWN OF MULTIPLE PROGRAM/SERIES NOMINATIONS

Program/Nominations/Network

24/7: 8 -  HBO
E: 60: 7 – ESPN2
A Game of Honor: 5 – Showtime/CBSSports.com
MLB on FOX: 5 – FOX
NASCAR on FOX: 5 – FOX
NBA on TNT: 4 – TNT
NBC Sunday Night Football: 4 – NBC
FIFA Women’s World Cup: 3 – ESPN/ESPN2
Outside the Lines: 3 – ESPN
Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel: 3 – HBO
SportsCenter: 3 – ESPN
The Army/Navy Game: 3 – CBS
The Franchise: 3 – Showtime
Winter X Games 15: 3 – ESPN/ESPN3D
2011 Open Championship: 2 – ESPN
2011 Stanley Cup Final: 2 – NBC/Versus
ESPN Monday Night Football: 2 – ESPN
Football Night in America: 2 – NBC
Grand Slam Tennis on ESPN: 2 – ESPN2
Inside the NBA on TNT: 2 – TNT
Joplin: City of Hope: 2 – ESPN2
McEnroe/Borg: Fire & Ice: 2 – HBO
MLB Tonight: 2 – MLB Network
NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament: 2 – CBS/TBS/TNT/truTV
NFL Films Presents: 2 – NFL Network
NFL GameDay Morning: 2 – NFL Network
NFL on FOX: 2 – FOX
Sports Science: 2 – ESPN/ESPN.com
Sunday NFL Countdown: 2 – ESPN
Unguarded: 2 – ESPN

And after the page break, all of the nominees for the 33rd Annual Sports Emmy Awards which will be handed out April 30 in New York City.

(continue reading…)

Breaking Out The Monday Links

For the last few weeks, we’ve been having issues with the server and some of you have complained to me. Suffice to say that I hope to have this fixed very soon. I will keep you apprised of the situation. In the meantime, thanks for your patience on the matter.

To the links.

We begin with the passing of legendary Atlanta sportswriter Furman Bisher who died Sunday at the age of 93. Even though he had retired from full-time writing in 2009, he continued to write for his old newspaper, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution as well as his own website. And he was planning to cover The Masters in April.

He covered practically every big sporting event in his 59 years at the AJC and was also instrumental in bringing professional sports to Georgia. Bisher also co-authored Hank Aaron’s autobiography. His career began in 1938 in his native North Carolina and he began with the Journal-Constitution in 1950.

Alexis Stevens of the AJC writes that Bisher passed in his sleep.

Bill King of the AJC says Bisher’s shadow looms large in Atlanta.

Bisher also wrote an occasional column for the Albany (GA) Herald for the last three years and the newspaper also mourns his passing.

He also wrote guest columns for the Newton (GA) Citizen.

The Augusta (GA) Chronicle picks up an Associated Press obituary on Bisher.

Bisher has been inducted into several Halls of Fame including the Atlanta Sports Hall of Fame, the Georgia Golf Hall of Fame as well as the Atlanta Press Club Hall of Fame.

And yes, when news of Bisher’s passing hit, it even trended worldwide on Twitter.

Bisher was a prolific writer even during retirement and was revered by colleagues and athletes. To say he will be missed is an understatement.

To other links now.

Michael Hiestand of USA Today says CBS/Turner’s Clark Kellogg had to miss seeing his son, Nick, playing in the NCAA Tournament in Ohio, and will do so again this weekend.

Anthony Crupi of Adweek writes that regional sports networks are already raking in strong ad sales for the upcoming MLB season.

Stephen Williams from Advertising Age notes that Jeremy Lin has signed an endorsement deal with Volvo which could make him the focus of a campaign in Communist China.

Toni Fitzgerald at Media Life says the NCAA Tournament is off to a strong ratings start.

Matt Yoder at Awful Announcing has video of CBS/Turner’s Charles Barkley making the obligatory Hardcore Pawn joke. I saw this last night and was in stitches.

The New York Post’s Phil Mushnick is swinging the ax once again.

Pete Dougherty at the Albany Times Union says CBS/Turner continue to see ratings increases for the NCAA Tournament.

The Washington Post’s Dan Steinberg in the DC Sports Bog notes that the local ESPN Radio affiliate has found a replacement for John Thompson’s show.

Tom Jones at the Tampa Bay Times has his take on the weekend in sports television.

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer notes that the city’s two NCAA Tournament team will be on CBS during the NCAA Tournament regional semifinals.

Robert Feder at Time Out Chicago writes about Ed Sherman leaving Crain’s Chicago Business’ sports business and media and launching a new website of his own.

The Denver Post’s Dusty Saunders is enjoying Charles Barkley on the NCAA Tournament.

Jay Posner at the San Diego Union-Tribune says two local sports radio hosts are switching stations.

Tony Jackson at ESPN LA writes about Vin Scully cutting back on broadcasting the Dodgers this season.

Raju Mudhar from the Toronto Star says sports is moving online, but at a snail’s pace.

The Toronto Globe and Mail’s Bruce Dowbiggin says the Blue Jays’ Omar Vizquel is a natural fit for television.

The Canadian Sports Media Blog reviews TSN’s NCAA Tournament coverage.

Timothy Burke gets a screengrab of the Dan Patrick Show showing Oderus from the great band, GWAR, working as a temp today. I love the look on Fritzy’s face. Hilarious.

Jim Weber at Lost Letterman says it’s time to end the Kenny Smith/Charles Barkley experience on the NCAA Tournament.

And I’ll finish it there for now.

Tip Times & CBS/Turner Announcing Assignments For Sweet 16 of 2012 NCAA Tournament

We know that Jim Nantz and Clark Kellogg will be headed to Atlanta to call the overall number one seed of the NCAA Tournament, Kentucky and the compelling South Regional semifinal between UK and Indiana. While Clark won’t be able to call his son, Nick playing for Ohio in the Midwest Regional in St. Louis against North Carolina, he will have some good basketball for the weekend.

For the first time since 2006, we won’t have Gus Johnson calling a Regional Final, but we do have Kevin Harlan which is a good thing. Kevin will be joined by Len Elmore and Reggie Miller out West in Phoenix. And the other regional final teams are Uncle Verne Lundquist and Bill Raftery stationed in Boston for the East Regional along with Turner’s Marv Albert and Steve Kerr in St. Louis.

CBS and TBS will split the duties for the regional semis on Thursday and Friday while CBS handles the regional finals over the weekend. Here are the Sweet 16 tip times and announcer assignments for Thursday and Friday.

CBS SPORTS AND TURNER SPORTS ANNOUNCE TIP-TIMES AND ANNOUNCE TEAMS FOR REGIONAL SEMI-FINALS

Exclusive Coverage Continues with Regional Semi-Finals on Thursday, March 22, and Friday, March 23

Turner Sports and CBS Sports announce tip-times, match-ups and commentators for its exclusive coverage of the 2012 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship Regional Semi-Finals on Thursday, March 22, and Friday, March 23 (7:00 PM-12:00 Midnight ET), with all games available on TBS or CBS. The NCAA Tip-Off pregame show will preview each night’s action on TBS at 6:00 PM.

Announce teams for the Regional Semi-Finals and Finals:

Play-By-Play/Analyst//Reporter
Jim Nantz/Clark Kellogg//Tracy Wolfson
Marv Albert/Steve Kerr//Craig Sager
Verne Lundquist/Bill Raftery//Lesley Visser
Kevin Harlan/Reggie Miller/Len Elmore//Marty Snider

Studio coverage continues with Greg Gumbel hosting along with analysts Charles Barkley, Greg Anthony and Kenny Smith from the CBS Broadcast Center in New York. Ernie Johnson hosts the studio coverage from Turner’s Atlanta studio with analysts Seth Davis and Steve Smith.

Below are tip-times for the Regional Semi-Final games, as well as announcer and production team assignments. Tip-times for the Regional Final games on Saturday, March 24, will be announced on Thursday after the conclusion of the day’s games. Tip-times for Sunday, March 25, will be released after the conclusion of play on Friday. For a complete channel guide, log on to NCAA.com/MyChannels.

Additionally, NCAA March Madness® Live provides a robust suite of products including live streaming video of all 67 games from the 2012 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship; personal channel lineup (MyChannel) features and schedule updates; social media integration; and real-time brackets, scores and stats across online and mobile platforms.

REGIONAL SEMI-FINAL GAMES
THURSDAY, MARCH 22

Time	Network	Site	Game	Play-by-Play/Analyst//Reporter
7:15 PM ET	CBS	Boston I	Wisconsin vs. Syracuse	Verne Lundquist/Bill Raftery// Lesley Visser
7:47 PM	TBS	Phoenix I	Louisville vs. Michigan State	Kevin Harlan/Reggie Miller/Len Elmore// Marty Snider
9:50 PM	CBS	Boston II	Cincinnati vs. Ohio State	Verne Lundquist/Bill Raftery// Lesley Visser
10:22 PM	TBS	Phoenix II	Florida vs. Marquette	Kevin Harlan/Reggie Miller/Len Elmore//Marty Snider

 REGIONAL SEMI-FINAL GAMES
FRIDAY, MARCH 23

Time	Network	Site	Game	Play-by-Play/Analyst//Reporter
7:15 PM	CBS	Atlanta I	Baylor vs. Xavier	Jim Nantz/Clark Kellogg//Tracy Wolfson
7:47 PM	TBS	St. Louis I	North Carolina vs. Ohio	Marv Albert/Steve Kerr//Craig Sager
9:50 PM	CBS	Atlanta II	Kentucky vs. Indiana	Jim Nantz/Clark Kellogg//Tracy Wolfson
10:22 pm	TBS	St. Louis II	Kansas vs. N.C. State	Marv Albert/Steve Kerr//Craig Sager

That’s all

CBS/Turner Says 2012 NCAA Tournament is Most Watched Since 1994; Saturday’s Ratings Up Too

The news is good for CBS/Turner on two fronts. While there were no upsets on Saturday unlike Friday, ratings were up for the NCAA Tournament by 3% from last year. Yesterday’s rating registered a 6.1, up from a 5.9 last year. In addition, the Tournament averaged 9.3 million viewers which was even with last year.

And the tournament overall is averaging a 5.3 rating through Saturday, up from last year’s 5.1 average by 4%.

We have the press blurb from CBS/Turner.

2012 NCAA® Division I Men’s Basketball Championship on TBS, CBS, TNT and truTv Most-Watched Tournament in 18 Years

Saturday’s 6.1 U.S. HH Rating +3% Over 2011

CBS Sports and Turners Sports’ exclusive coverage of the 2012 NCAA^® Division I Men’s Basketball Championship across TBS, CBS, TNT and truTV is the most-watched tournament in 18 years.

This year’s event is averaging a 5.3 U.S. HH rating through Saturday, up 4% compared with a 5.1 rating in 2011 and an increase of 15% over a 4.6 rating in 2010 (according to Nielsen Fast Nationals). The corresponding average of eight million viewers this year is +3% over last year’s 7.8 million viewers and +14% compared with seven million viewers in 2010.

Saturday’s coverage across the four networks delivered the highest-rated and most-watched first Saturday of the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship since 2007. Yesterday’s coverage averaged a 6.1 U.S. HH rating, +3% over last year’s 5.9 rating and an increase of 13% over a 5.4 rating in 2010. The corresponding 9.3 million viewers were even with last year and +11% vs. 8.4 million viewers in 2010.

Source: Nielsen Media Research, based on Fast National Data, Live +SD data stream. 3/13-3/17/12 vs 3-15-3/19/11. 2011 and 2012 averages based on weighted average of 4 telecast gross across CBS, TBS, TNT and truTV. Historical audiences, CBS 1991 through 2005 based on Live data. 2006 through 2012 based on Live + SD. 2003 based on CBS / ESPN average of First Round.

That will do it.

Quick Sunday Linkage

While I have a moment, let’s provide some rare Sunday links.

The lovely Nicole Auerbach of USA Today notes that ESPN’s Bob Knight won’t mention Kentucky by name on the air. ESPN allows Knight to wear sweaters on the air instead of a suit and tie and now this. I don’t understand it.

The Associated Press reports that Hall of Fame Los Angeles Dodgers voice Vin Scully is cutting back on his schedule even further this upcoming season.

The Biz of Baseball’s Maury Brown writes that the Dodgers have released their 2012 radio and TV schedule with the news about Scully buried deep in the press release.

Mike Reynolds from Multichannel News says Friday’s historic upsets in the NCAA Tournament gave CBS/Turner record ratings.

R. Thomas Umstead of Multichannel notes that HBO has set the date for its next pay per view boxing event.

Dan Fogarty of SportsGrid wonders exactly what CBS/Turner’s Bill Raftery said during last night’s Iowa State-Kentucky game.

Brandon Costa of Sports Video Group writes that Ball State students are helping Turner Sports drive its social media engine for the NCAA Tournament.

Sox & Dawgs has the funny video of UConn’s Stefanie Dolson taking a knee to the groin, but what’s makes it funny is that ESPN2′s Rebecca Lobo is laughing when she sees the replay.

Phil Swann at TVPredictions says DirecTV aired last night’s launch of Fox Sports San Diego in HD.

The New York Post’s Phil Mushnick can’t stand ESPN’s Stephen A. “A is for Anti-Asian” Smith kissing up to certain New York Knicks players.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union notes the higher ratings for the NCAA Tournament on Friday.

Greg Connors of the Buffalo News says the Bills’ courting of Mario Williams stretched the Western New York media to all corners of the region.

Jim Williams from the Washington Examiner talks with Sirius XM NFL Radio host Ross Tucker about the DC NFL Team.

Tom Jones from the Tampa Bay Times profiles NBC/Golf Channel’s on-course reporter Dottie Pepper.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle says ratings for the first true day of the NCAA Tournament were up.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has writers analyzing the Brewers by each position.

Bill Center of the San Diego Union-Tribune says the Padres got their official launch on Fox Sports last night.

Jim Peltz of the Los Angeles Times writes about Vin Scully cutting back on his schedule this season.

Sports Media Watch notes the increased ratings for the NCAA Tournament on Thursday.

SMW says the NBA drew strong numbers for ESPN/ABC.

And that will complete the links for today.

CBS/Turner Says Friday Was Highest Rated 1st Friday of NCAA Tournament in 21Years

Just received this from the CBS/Turner consortium (I like writing “consortium”).

Ratings for Friday were the highest for the second official day of the NCAA Tournament dating back to 1991. The ratings finished at a total of 5.4 for the CBS/TBS/TNT/truTV perfecta. That’s up 8% from last year’s 5.0.

Average viewership was 8 million people, up 7% from the 7.5 million who tuned in last year. The upsets of Missouri and heavy hitter Duke certainly helped the ratings, but might hurt in the long run as two marquee ratings draws are out of the Tournament.

We have the CBS/Turner press release for you all wrapped up in a neat bow for you below.

2012 NCAA® Division I Men’s Basketball Championship on TBS, CBS, TNT and truTv Delivers Most-Watched First Thursday & Friday Since 1991 

Friday’s 5.4 U.S. HH Rating +8%; Eight Million Viewers +7%

 

Turner Sports and CBS Sports’ exclusive second-round coverage of the 2012 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship across TBS, CBS, TNT and truTV on Friday combined to deliver a 5.4 U.S. HH rating (+8% compared with a 5.0 rating in 2011 and +29% vs. 2010’s 4.2 rating) and eight million total viewers (+7% vs. 7.5 million viewers last year and +27% vs. 2010’s 6.3 million viewers), according to Nielsen Fast Nationals. 

 

Last night’s coverage across the four networks delivered the most-watched first Friday of the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship (records date back to 1991, when the tournament expanded to four telecast windows)?

Overall, the first Thursday and Friday is the most-watched since 1991.  Thursday and Friday coverage averaged a 5.3 U.S. HH rating (+6% compared with a 5.0 rating in 2011) and 7.9 million viewers (+5% vs. 7.5 million viewers last year). 

The first telecast window of the day earned a 3.8 U.S. HH rating (tied with last year’s record-setting performance in the window and +41% vs. a 2.7 rating in 2010).

 

The second telecast window of the day delivered a 5.2 U.S. HH rating (+11% vs. last year and +63% vs. a 3.2 rating in 2010).

 

The third telecast window of the day netted a 6.5 U.S. HH rating (+12% vs. last year and +20% vs. a 5.4 rating in 2010).

 

The final window earned a 6.0 U.S. HH rating (+2% vs. last year and +18% vs. a 5.1 rating in 2010).

 

Source: Nielsen Media Research, based on Fast National Data, Live +SD data stream. 3/13-3/16/12 vs 3-15-3/17811. 2011 and 2012 averages based on weighted average of 4 telecast gross across CBS, TBS, TNT and truTV. Historical audiences, CBS 1991 through 2005 based on Live data. 2006 through 2012 based on Live + SD. 2003 based on CBS / ESPN average of First Round.

That will do it.

Tip Times & Announcing Assignments For Sunday’s 3rd Round 2012 NCAA Tournament Action

The press release is in. We have the tip times, networks and announcing assignments for the NCAA Tournament for the third round action on Sunday.

CBS will have the first three games starting at 12:15 p.m. ET with Georgetown vs. North Carolina State from Columbus, OH. That will be followed by Michigan State-Saint Louis at 2:45 p.m. and North Carolina-Creighton at 5:15 p.m.

TNT will have two games starting at 6:10 p.m. TBS’ night begins at 7:10 p.m. and truTV will come in with its lone weekend game and last game of the tournament at 7:45 p.m. with Xavier-Lehigh. After the third round, both TNT and truTV’s NCAA Tournament duties will be finished for 2012.

CBS and TBS will combine for the Sweet 16 on Thursday and Friday.

Here’s the schedule for Sunday.

TURNER SPORTS AND CBS SPORTS ANNOUNCE TIP-TIMES AND MATCH-UPS FOR THIRD-ROUND GAMES ON SUNDAY, MARCH 18

Exclusive Coverage Continues with Third-Round on Saturday, March 17

CBS Sports and Turner Sports announce tip-times and match-ups for third-round coverage of the 2012 NCAA^® Division I Men’s Basketball Championship on Sunday, March 18 (12:00 NOON-12:00 AM, ET) with all games available in their entirety across four national television networks: TBS, CBS, TNT and truTV. Exclusive live coverage continues with third-round action on Saturday, March 17 (12:00 NOON-12:00 AM, ET).

Studio coverage continues with Greg Gumbel and Ernie Johnson sharing hosting duties each day. Charles Barkley, Greg Anthony and Kenny Smith provide analysis throughout the tournament alongside Gumbel or Johnson from the CBS Broadcast Center in New York. St. John’s head coach Steve Lavin joins the New York Studio on Saturday and Sunday. Matt Winer hosts the studio coverage from Turner’s Atlanta studio with analysts Seth Davis and Steve Smith on Saturday and Sunday.

Following are the tip-times for Sunday’s third-round games, as well as the announce team assignments. Tip-times for the Regional Semi-Final games on Thursday, March 22 and Friday, March 23 will be announced on Sunday after the conclusion of the day’s games. For a complete channel guide click on MyChannels at NCAA.com/MyChannels.

NCAA March Madness^® Live provides a robust suite of products including live streaming video of all 67 games from the 2012 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship; personal channel lineup (MyChannel) features and schedule updates; social media integration; and real-time brackets, scores and stats across online and mobile platforms.

THIRD ROUND GAMES
SUNDAY, MARCH 18 (12:00 Noon-12:00 AM, ET)

Time	Network	Site	Game	Play-by-Play/Analyst//Reporter
12:15PM	CBS	Columbus I	Georgetown vs. NC State	Tim Brando/Mike Gminski//
				Otis Livingston
2:45 PM	CBS	Columbus II	Michigan St. vs. Saint Louis	Tim Brando/Mike Gminski//
				Otis Livingston
5:15 PM	CBS	Greensboro I	North Carolina vs. Creighton	Jim Nantz/Clark Kellogg//
				Tracy Wolfson
6:10 PM	TNT	Omaha I	Florida vs. Norfolk St.	Marv Albert/Steve Kerr//
				Craig Sager
7:10 PM	TBS	Nashville I	S. Florida vs. Ohio	Ian Eagle/Jim Spanarkel//
				Lewis Johnson
7:45 PM	truTV	Greensboro II	Xavier vs. Lehigh	Jim Nantz/Clark Kellogg//
				Tracy Wolfson
8:40 PM	TNT	Omaha II	Kansas vs. Purdue	Marv Albert/Steve Kerr//
				Craig Sager
9:40 PM	TBS	Nashville II	Florida St. vs. Cincinnati	Ian Eagle/Jim Spanarkel//
				Lewis Johnson

And we are done for the night. I’ll be back sporadically this weekend.

CBS/Turner Sees Highest Rated Opening Thursday of NCAA Tournament in 21 Years

The four games on four networks in one window is working for CBS/Turner. Thursday’s action saw a 5.3 rating and 7.7 million viewers on CBS/TBS/TNT and truTV. That’s up from a 5.0 and 7.4 million viewers last year.

Here’s the press release from CBS/Turner Sports.

2012 NCAA® Division I Men’s Basketball Championship on TBS, CBS, TNT and truTv Delivers 5.3 US HH Rating and 7.7 Million Total Viewers

Most-Watched First Thursday since 1991
Thursday’s Coverage Up 6% in Households; 4% in Total Viewers

CBS Sports and Turner Sports’ exclusive second-round coverage of the 2012 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship across TBS, CBS, TNT and truTV on Thursday combined to deliver a 5.3 U.S. HH rating (+6% vs. 2011) and 7.7 million total viewers (+4% vs. 2011), according to Nielsen Fast Nationals.

Last night’s coverage across the four networks delivered the highest-rated and most-viewed Thursday of the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship since 1991, when the tournament expanded to four telecast windows.

The second telecast window of the day combined to earn a 4.8 U.S. HH rating (+9% vs. last year) and 6,723,000 total viewers (+5% from last year).

The third telecast window of the day combined to earn a 6.4 U.S. HH rating (+10% vs. last year) and 9,664,000 total viewers (+8% from last year).

The final window combined to earn a 6.4 U.S. HH rating (+8% vs. last year) and 9,900,000 total viewers (+8% from last year).

Source: Nielsen Media Research, based on Fast National Data, Live +SD data stream. 3/13-3/17/12 vs 3-15-3/17/11. 2011 and 2012 averages based on weighted average of 4 telecast gross across CBS, TBS, TNT and truTV. Historical audiences, CBS 1991 through 2005 based on Live data. 2006 through 2012 based on Live + SD. 2003 based on CBS / ESPN average of First Round.

That’s it.

Doing Some Friday Megalinks Now

Let’s do some megalinks on this Friday. My apologies for the lack of posts yesterday. The site was swamped with people linking to my post on How to Avoid Paying the $3.99 Fee For March Madness Live and it was down for most of the day. We seem to be ok today, although the site was down for a short stretch in the morning. But we’re back up now and time for some megalinks on this Friday.

The Weekend Viewing Picks are up and running. Lots of sports as the winter NCAA Championships including the basketball tournaments are underway.

Let’s get to your links.

National

Michael Hiestand from USA Today praises CBS/Turner for bringing the NCAA head of men’s basketball officiating back to explain controversial calls.

Reid Cherner of USA Today’s Game On blog remembers a great NCAA Tournmament buzzer beater from 1981 as called by NBC’s Marv Albert.

Sports Business Daily notes the overnight ratings for Thursday’s games from the NCAA Tournament were down, but still considered a win for CBS/Turner.

Matt Carmichael from Advertising Age tells us which two schools were Googled the most during yesterday’s NCAA Tournament action.

Dan Fogarty at SportsGrid has the absolutely hilarious video of a WGN morning news anchor trying to amp up the volume at ESPN’s Dick Vitale while technical difficulties arise.

Karen Hogan from Sports Video Group writes that the National Invitation Tournament may be the NCAA Tournament’s ugly sister, but it still gets major treatment from ESPN.

To Matt Yoder at Awful Announcing who notes another Twitter feud involving CNBC’s Darren Rovell, this one with Bomani Jones.

Sports Media Watch says Thursday’s 2nd round NCAA Tournament games received slightly lower overnight ratings from the year before.

Dave Kohl of The Broadcast Booth wants to know why name calling in sports radio is a more punishable offense than inaccurate reporting.

Greg Wyshynski of Yahoo’s Puck Daddy asks if the NHL’s new Stanley Cup ad campaign to replace the great “History Will Be Made” promos can be as successful.

Laura Northrup of the Consumerist wonders why NBA League Pass hasn’t adjusted to Daylight Savings Time?

All Access says ESPN Deportes Radio in Chicago has picked up the Spanish rights to the White Sox.

La Liga Talk has learned that Al Jazeera has obtained the US TV rights to Spain’s La Liga from Gol TV.

East and Mid-Atlantic

The Boston Globe’s Chad Finn talks with ESPN’s Dick Vitale.

At SB Nation Boston, Boston Sports Media Watch’s Bruce Allen says social networking may have created spoiled fans.

Tazina Vega from the New York Times says the NHL is hoping to lure viewers by airing all of its Stanley Cup Playoff games on various NBC Sports platforms.

Phil Mushnick of the New York Post feels the CBS/Turner NCAA Tournament collaboration has become the Home Shopping Network. Whatever.

The Post’s Justin Terranova talks with CBS/Turner analyst Clark Kellogg.

Justin has 5 questions for MSG Network NBA analyst Kelly Tripucka.

Dan Steinberg at the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog notes that the Onion has skewered the DC NFL Team.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner talks with a Turner Sports Interactive executive on how Twitter is incorporated into this year’s NCAA Tournament coverage.

South

Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald says NBC will air this fall’s Miami-Notre Dame football game in primetime.

David Barron from the Houston Chronicle notes that CBS/Turner’s Charles Barkley criticized Baylor’s ugly neon yellow uniforms.

David has the CBS/Turner announcing assignments for Saturday’s NCAA Tournament action.

Mel Bracht from The Oklahoman notes that Cox Cable subscribers can access the NCAA March Madness Live app for free provided they authenticate.

John E. Hoover from the Tulsa World says the Big 12′s new TV deals will ensure the survival of the conference.

Midwest

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer notes that Reds voice Marty Brennaman can be heard in a new UPS March Madness ad.

While Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel enjoys the NCAA Tounament, there are some things he can do without.

Ed Sherman at Crain’s Chicago Business announces he’ll no longer be writing his sports business and media blog for the publication.

Ed says he will be launching a new site on the sports media and I look forward to seeing it when it finally comes to fruition.

Brigid Sweeney of Crain’s Chicago Business notes that Bulls TV analyst Stacey King now has a new fashion line.

Paul Christian at the Rochester (MN) Post-Bulletin says the national Junior College championships can be seen online.

Dan Caesar of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch says the local CBS affiliate didn’t help matters by taking up a large portion of the screen during NCAA Tournament action for weather updates.

West

Bill Center at the San Diego Union-Tribune says maybe, maybe Fox Sports San Diego will launch on Saturday provided MLB approval comes that quickly.

Jim Carlisle of the Ventura County Star looks at the Erin Andrews network sweepstakes.

Jim says the NCAA Tournament has become predictable.

Jim has his weekend viewing picks.

Richard Horgan of Fishbowl LA says ESPN will not discipline its SoCal reporters for getting a big story wrong on the Dodgers ownership bid process.

We are going to end the links there. Not as many as in past weeks, but still a hefty amount. Enjoy your weekend.

College Basketball Viewing Picks For 03/17 & 03/18/12, All Times Eastern

Saturday, March 17

Men’s

National Invitational Tournament
Second Round
UMass at Seton Hall — ESPN,11 a.m.

NCAA Tournament
Third Round

East Region
Consol Energy Center, Pittsburgh, PA
Announcers: CBS/Turner — Kevin Harlan/Len Elmore/Reggie Miller/Marty Snider (sidelines); Dial Global Radio — Scott Graham/Kevin Grevey
#1 Syracuse vs. Kansas State — CBS, 12:15 p.m.
#2 Ohio State vs. #7 Gonzaga — CBS, 2:45 p.m.

The Pit, Albuquerque, NM
Announcers: CBS/Turner — Spero Dedes/Bob Wenzel/Jamie Maggio (sidelines); Dial Global Radio — Dave Sims/Michael Cage
#4 Wisconsin vs. #5 Vanderbilt — TNT, 6:10 p.m.

South Region
Rose Garden, Portland, OR
Announcers: CBS/Turner — Brian Anderson/Dan Bonner/Jenn Hildreth (sidelines); Dial Global Radio — Kevin Calabro/Bill Frieder
#4 Indiana vs. #12 VCU — TBS, 7:10 p.m.

KFC Yum! Center, Louisville, KY
Announcers: CBS/Turner — Verne Lundquist/Bill Raftery/Lesley Visser (sidelines); Dial Global Radio — Ted Robinson/Kyle Macy
#1 Kentucky vs. #8 Iowa State — CBS, 7:45 p.m.

The Pit, Albuquerque, NM
Announcers: CBS/Turner — Spero Dedes/Bob Wenzel/Jamie Maggio (sidelines); Dial Global Radio — Dave Sims/Michael Cage
#3 Baylor vs. #11 Colorado — TNT, 8:40 p.m.

West Region
KFC Yum! Center, Louisville, KY
Announcers: CBS/Turner — Verne Lundquist/Bill Raftery/Lesley Visser (sidelines); Dial Global Radio — Ted Robinson/Kyle Macy
#3 Marquette vs. #6 Murray State — CBS, 5:15 p.m.

Rose Garden, Portland, OR
Announcers: CBS/Turner — Brian Anderson/Dan Bonner/Jenn Hildreth (sidelines); Dial Global Radio — Kevin Calabro/Bill Frieder
#4 Louisville vs. #5 New Mexico — TBS, 9:40 p.m.

Full Court Press — CBS Sports Network, 2 p.m.
NCAA Tip-Off — TNT, 5 p.m.
College GameDay Scoreboard — ESPN2, midnight
Inside March Madness — TBS, midnight

Women’s
NCAA Tournament
First Round
All Games on ESPN2

Kingston, RI Region
Webster Bank Arena at Harbor Yard, Bridgeport, CT
Announcers: Pam Ward/Rebecca Lobo
#8 Kansas State vs. #9 Princeton — ESPN2, 11:20 a.m.
#1 UConn vs. #16 Prairie View A&M — ESPN2, 1:50 p.m.

McCarthey Athletic Center, Spokane, WA
Announcers: Dave Flemming/Sean Farnham
#6 Rutgers vs. #11 Gonzaga — ESPN2, 4:15 p.m.
#3 Miami (FL) vs. #14 Idaho State — ESPN2, 6:45 p.m.

Hilton Coliseum, Ames, IA
Announcers: Clay Matvick/Krista Blunk
#2 Kentucky vs. McNeese State — ESPN2, 4:20 p.m.
#7 Wisconsin-Green Bay vs. #10 Iowa State — ESPN2, 6:50 p.m.

Raleigh, NC Region
Comcast Center, College Park, MD
Announcers: Bob Wischusen/LaChina Robinson
#2 Maryland vs. #15 Navy — ESPN2, 11:15 a.m.
#7 Louisville vs. #10 Michigan State — ESPN, 1:45 p.m.

Reed Arena, College Station, TX
Announcers: Carter Blackburn/Tamika Raymond
#6 Arkansas vs. #11 Dayton — ESPN2, 4:05 p.m.
#3 Texas A&M vs. #14 Albany — ESPN2, 6:35 p.m.

Fresno, CA Region
Ted Constant Convocation Center, Norfolk, VA
Announcers: Mark Jones/Mary Murphy
#8 West Virginia vs. #9 Texas — ESPN2, 11:10 a.m.
#1 Stanford vs. #16 Hampton — ESPN2, 1:40 p.m.

Mackey Arena, West Lafayette, IN
Announcers: Brenda VanLengen/Stephen Bardo
#5 South Carolina vs. #12 Eastern Michigan — ESPN2, 11:05 a.m.
#4 Purdue vs. #13 South Dakota State — ESPN2, 1:45 p.m.

Des Moines, IA Region
Allstate Arena, Chicago, IL
Announcers: Jon Sciambi/Brooke Weisbrod
#2 Tennessee vs. #15 Tennessee-Martin — ESPN2, 4:10 p.m.
#7 DePaul vs. #10 BYU — ESPN2, 6:40 p.m.

Sunday, March 18

Men’s

National Invitation Tournament
2nd Round
Northern Iowa at Drexel — ESPN, 11 a.m.
Bucknell at Nevada — ESPNU, 3 p.m.
Iowa at Oregon — ESPNU, 5 p.m.

NCAA Tournament
Third Round

East Region
Bridgestone Arena, Nashville, TN
Announcers: CBS/Turner — Ian Eagle/Jim Spanarkel/Lewis Johnson (sidelines); Dial Global Radio — Brad Sham/Pete Gillen
#3 Florida State vs. #6 Cincinnati — TBS, 9:40 p.m.

Midwest Region
Nationwide Arena, Columbus, OH
Announcers: CBS/Turner — Tim Brando/Mike Gminski/Otis Livingston (sidelines); Dial Global Radio — Wayne Larrivee/John Thompson
#3 Georgetown vs. #11 North Carolina State — CBS, 12:15 p.m.

Greensboro Coliseum, Greensboro, NC
Announcers: CBS/Turner — Jim Nantz/Clark Kellogg/Tracy Wolfson (sidelines); Dial Global Radio — Gary Cohen/Reid Gettys
#1 North Carolina vs. #8 Creighton — CBS, 5:15 p.m.

Bridgestone Arena, Nashville, TN
Announcers: CBS/Turner — Ian Eagle/Jim Spanarkel/Lewis Johnson (sidelines); Dial Global Radio — Brad Sham/Pete Gillen
#12 South Florida vs. #13 Ohio — TBS, 7:10 p.m.

CenturyLink Center, Omaha, NE
Announcers: CBS/Turner — Marv Albert/Steve Kerr/Craig Sager (sidelines); Dial Global Radio — Kevin Kugler/Tom Brennan
#2 Kansas vs. #10 Purdue — TNT, 8:40 p.m.

South Region

Greensboro Coliseum, Greensboro, NC
Announcers: CBS/Turner — Jim Nantz/Clark Kellogg/Tracy Wolfson (sidelines); Dial Global Radio — Gary Cohen/Reid Gettys
#10 Xavier vs. #15 Lehigh — truTV, 7:45 p.m.

Midwest Region
Nationwide Arena, Columbus, OH
Announcers: CBS/Turner — Tim Brando/Mike Gminski/Otis Livingston (sidelines); Dial Global Radio — Wayne Larrivee/John Thompson
#1 Michigan State vs. #9 Saint Louis — CBS, 2:45 p.m.

CenturyLink Center, Omaha, NE
Announcers: CBS/Turner — Marv Albert/Steve Kerr/Craig Sager (sidelines); Dial Global Radio — Kevin Kugler/Tom Brennan
#7 Florida vs. #15 Norfolk State — TNT, 6:10 p.m.

Full Court Press — CBS Sports Network, 4:30 p.m.
NCAA Tip-Off — TNT, 5 p.m.
Full Court Press — CBS Sports Network, 8 p.m.
College GameDay Scoreboard– ESPN2, midnight
Inside March Madness — TBS, midnight

Women’s

NCAA Tournament
First Round
All Games on ESPN2

Kingston, RI Region
Maravich Center, Baton Rouge, LA
Announcers: Bob Picozzi/Rosalyn Gold-Onwude
#4 Penn State vs. #13 UTEP — ESPN2, 5:15 p.m.
#5 LSU vs. #12 San Diego State — ESPN2, 7:45 p.m.

Raleigh, NC Region
Donald L. Tucker Center, Tallahassee, FL
Announcers: Justin Kutcher/Nell Fortner
#4 Georgia vs. #13 Marist — ESPN2, 12:05 p.m.
#5 St. Bonaventure vs. #12 Florida Gulf Coast — ESPN2, 2:45 p.m.

Purcell Pavilion, Notre Dame, IN
Announcers: Dave O’Brien/Doris Burke
#8 Cal vs. #9 Iowa — ESPN2, 12:10 p.m.
#1 Notre Dame vs. Liberty — ESPN2, 2:40 p.m.

Fresno, CA Region
Lloyd Noble Center, Norman, OK
Announcers: Marc Kestecher/Kayte Christensen
#3 St. John’s vs. #14 Creighton — ESPN2, 5:05 p.m.
#6 Oklahoma vs. #11 Michigan — ESPN2, 7:35 p.m.

Memorial Gymnasium, Nashville, TN
Announcers: Dave Pasch/Debbie Antonelli
#7 Vanderbilt vs. #10 Middle Tennessee State — ESPN2, 5:10 p.m.
#2 Duke vs. #15 Samford — ESPN2, 7:40 p.m.

Des Moines, IA Region
Stroh Center, Bowling Green, OH
Announcers: Cara Capuano/Abby Waner
#8 Ohio State vs. #9 Florida State — ESPN2, 12:15 p.m.
#1 Baylor vs. #16 UC Santa Barbara — ESPN2, 2:45 p.m.

Carmichael Arena, Chapel Hill, NC
Announcers: Beth Mowins/Stephanie White
#5 Georgetown vs. #12 Fresno State — ESPN2, 12:20 p.m.
#4 Georgia Tech vs. #13 Sacred Heart — ESPN2, 2:50 p.m.

Jack Stephens Center, Little Rock, AR
Announcers: Holly Rowe/Fran Fraschilla
#3 Delaware vs. #14 Arkansas-Little Rock — ESPN2, 5:20 p.m.
#6 Nebraska vs. #11 Kansas — ESPN2, 7:50 p.m.

Tip Times & Announcing Assignments For Saturday’s 3rd Round NCAA Tournament Action

Ok, it’s late, but we have the tip times and the announcing assignments for Saturday’s Third Round games in the NCAA Tournament. CBS has its traditional Saturday quadruple header. TBS and TNT will both have two games apiece. truTV won’t have a game on Saturday, but will have one on Sunday.

CBS will begin the day with an exclusive afternoon doubleheader starting at 12:15 p.m. ET. TNT joins at 6:10 p.m. then TBS jumps in at 7:10 p.m.

The day begins with Syracuse vs. Kansas State in Pittsburgh on CBS and will conclude with Louisville vs. New Mexico in Portland, OR on TBS. Overall, it will almost 12 hours of wall-to-wall basketball on the CBS/Turner consortium. Here’s the press release.

CBS SPORTS AND TURNER SPORTS ANNOUNCE TIP-TIMES AND MATCH-UPS FOR THIRD-ROUND GAMES ON SATURDAY, MARCH 17

Exclusive Coverage Continues with Second-Round on Friday, March 16

Turner Sports and CBS Sports announce tip-times and match-ups for third-round coverage of the 2012 NCAA® Division I Men’s Basketball Championship on Saturday, March 17 (12:00 NOON-12:00 AM, ET) with all games available in their entirety across three national television networks: TBS, CBS, and TNT. Exclusive live coverage continues with second-round action on Friday, March 16 (11:00 AM-12:00 AM, ET).

Studio coverage continues with Greg Gumbel and Ernie Johnson sharing hosting duties each day. Charles Barkley, Greg Anthony and Kenny Smith provide analysis throughout the tournament alongside Gumbel or Johnson from the CBS Broadcast Center in New York. St. John’s head coach Steve Lavin joins the New York Studio on Saturday and Sunday. Matt Winer hosts the studio coverage from Turner’s Atlanta studio with analysts Seth Davis, Steve Smith on Saturday and Sunday. Villanova head coach Jay Wright joins the Atlanta studio on Friday.

Following are the tip-times for Saturday’s third-round games, as well as the announce team assignments. Tip-times for the third-round games on Sunday will be announced on Friday after the conclusion of the day’s games. For a complete channel guide click on MyChannels at NCAA.com/MyChannels.

NCAA March Madness® Live provides a robust suite of products including live streaming video of all 67 games from the 2012 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship; personal channel lineup (MyChannel) features and schedule updates; social media integration; and real-time brackets, scores and stats across online and mobile platforms.

THIRD ROUND GAMES
SATURDAY, MARCH 17 (12:00 Noon-12:00 AM, ET)

Time	Network	Site	Game	Play-by-Play/Analyst//Reporter
12:15 PM	CBS	Pittsburgh I	Syracuse. vs. Kansas St.	Kevin Harlan/Len Elmore/Reggie Miller//
				Marty Snider
2:45 PM	CBS	Pittsburgh II	Ohio St. vs. Gonzaga	Kevin Harlan/Len Elmore/Reggie Miller//
				Marty Snider
5:15 PM	CBS	Louisville I	Marquette vs. Murray St.	Verne Lundquist/Bill Raftery//
				Lesley Visser
6:10 PM	TNT	Albuquerque I	Wisconsin vs. Vanderbilt	Spero Dedes/Bob Wenzel//
				Jaime Maggio
7:10 PM	TBS	Portland I	Indiana vs. VCU	Brian Anderson/Dan Bonner//
				Jenn Hildreth
7:45 PM	CBS	Louisville II	Kentucky vs. Iowa St.	Verne Lundquist/Bill Raftery//
				Lesley Visser
8:40 PM	TNT	Albuquerque II	Baylor vs. Colorado	Spero Dedes/Bob Wenzel//
				Jamie Maggio
9:40 PM	TBS	Portland II	Louisville vs. New Mexico	Brian Anderson/Dan Bonner//
				Jenn Hildreth

That will do it.

A Couple of Early Thursday Sports Media Thoughts

I’m writing this past midnight on a Thursday. I want to sleep, but I’ll pound this out to get these off my chest. This will be in bullet form as always.

• It seems every sports media writer and blogger has offered thoughts and potential landing spots for ESPN’s Big Three Free Agents, Michelle Beadle, Erin Andrews and Scott Van Pelt. All are coveted within ESPN circles and while the Alleged Worldwide Leader has in the past stepped up to keep their free agents from flying the coop, the network may be hard pressed to keep all in the Bristol nest this time around. Let’s handicap all three and give a prediction on where each could possibly sign.

  Starting with Michelle Beadle, the co-host of ESPN2′s SportsNation, she has made it no secret that she’d like to branch out from sports. While she has enjoyed co-hosting with SportsNation with Colin Cowherd, he has said he wants to leave that show by next year. Could that influence Michelle’s thinking? Absolutely. Michelle is not the typical ESPN’er. She speaks her mind. She’s not afraid to mention or talk to ESPN’s arch-enemy, Deadspin. Michelle has a block of ESPN higher up’s solidly in her corner, but even with that said, I think she leaves Bristol and heads to New York or LA to host an entertainment show or become a panelist on a talk show.

  Erin Andrews has become a rock star at the Alleged Worldwide Leader and to be honest, I was a little surprised when she signed a contract to return to ESPN back in 2010. I don’t think she’ll stay this time around. I think she could go to NBC which can give her a combination package of Access Hollywood, the Today Show, the Olympics, other major sporting events like the Super Bowl and maybe a special or two every year on NBC Sports Network. Erin’s days as a sideline reporter are over.

  Scott Van Pelt was lured to ESPN from Golf Channel and while NBC can offer him a role on his old home and on the PGA Tour, a possible hosting job on the Olympics, a regular show on NBCSN and even more if The Group gets more inventory, I think he stays in Bristol. Van Pelt likes hosting his radio show and I predict he’ll get an expanded role on SportsCenter plus host ESPN’s big events.

• Can we get Bonnie Bernstein a major radio or TV gig soon? She deserves it.
• Lastly, I want to do a mailbag soon so if you have a sports media question, send it to kzf1@fangsbites.com. One e-mailer at random will get the first season DVD of VH1′s Mob Wives courtesy of Klout. I’ll be happy to answer your questions.

I’m done.

NCAA Tip Off Quotage For FIRST FOUR, 03/14/12

Because CBS/Turner got an interview with Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim, we have this piece of quotage for you. Boeheim discussed Orangemen center Fab Melo being declared ineligible for the NCAA Tournament, however, he really didn’t shed much light into why. But we get quotage and that’s good for you as we see a portion of what was said in the NCAA Tip-Off interview and the reaction from the studio crew.

Check it all out below.

Notes from tonight’s NCAA® Tip Off Pregame Show on truTV
Wednesday, March 14, 2012

CBS Sports’ and Turner Sports’ interview with Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim

Click here for a replay of the one-on-one interview with Syracuse men’s basketball head coach Jim Boeheim conducted by Marty Snider on truTV.

Boeheim on the impact from the loss of Fab Melo in the lineup: “The big difference is he’s the best shot blocker in the country, or one of the best, if not the best in the country. That’s where he really anchors our defense. What we have to do is play better defense in front of that spot. Our other guys have to play better defensively. On the offensive end, it doesn’t change much in terms of what we’re going to do.

“It does, obviously, change our defense but I think we’re a team that is well-equipped to…play this tournament without him. Most years I wouldn’t say that if we lost our starting center. We have guys that have played. They’re not as good as he is but they are good players and I’m very confident in what they can do.”

NCAA Tip Off pregame show
Matt Winer, Steve Smith, Seth Davis and Villanova head coach Jay Wright as guest analyst

Wright on the impact of Melo’s absence on Syracuse’s offense: “It’s going to affect them offensively. [Melo’s] defense and shot blocking starts their [fast] break and they have the best break in college basketball.”

Smith on Melo’s absence: “Offensively, they don’t do a great job in the half court and the shots they miss, [Melo] could grab and [the opposition] needed two or three guys to box him out. So they are going to miss him on both ends.”

Davis on how Syracuse played without Melo earlier in the season: “When they did play without him [earlier in the season], it was striking how much they missed him.”

Davis on Syracuse’s chances in the tournament after the loss of Melo: “I think they go from a very short list of contenders for the national championship to a second tier team in a jumble of teams. Yes, if they get hot or if they get the right matchups, they could make it but I think this is a near-devastating blow for them.”

Wright on how Syracuse can still have a successful tournament: “They have a lot of great players and Boeheim is one of the smartest guys in basketball. They can figure out a way to play differently and still be successful.”

That will do it.

CBS/Turner, CBS Sports Network Add Coaches As Guest Analysts For NCAA Tournament Coverage

We have a couple of notes from CBS/Turner and CBS Sports Network on the guest analysts each entity will have on their sets.

CBS will bring in St. John’s coach and former ESPN analyst to its New York set to join Greg Gumbel, Ernie Johnson, Jr., Charles Barkley, Kenny “The Jet” Smith and Greg Anthony. In Atlanta joining the Turner set of Matt Winer, Steve Smith and Seth Davis will be Villanova coach Jay Wright.

Take a look at the CBS/Turner press blurb.

THIS JUST IN…
…from CBS Sports and Turner Sports:

Turner Sports and CBS Sports have added Villanova head coach Jay Wright and St. John’s head coach Steve Lavin as guest studio analysts for the 2012 NCAA^® Division I Men’s Basketball Championship, airing across TBS, CBS, TNT and truTV.

Wright will contribute to coverage of the First Four^® on truTV from the Atlanta studio on Wednesday, March 14, along with second round action on Thursday, March 15, and Friday, March 16. Wright will appear alongside Steve Smith, Seth Davis and Matt Winer on truTV’s Inside March Madness to wrap up each day’s action at 12:30 a.m. ET.

Lavin will serve as a guest analyst in the New York studio for third round coverage on Saturday, March 17, and Sunday, March 18, joining analysts Charles Barkley, Greg Anthony, Kenny Smith and hosts Greg Gumbel and Ernie Johnson.

CBS Sports Network says a total of five, count ‘em, five current and former coaches joining its studio team. Check it out.

CBS Sports Network Adds College Coaches to 2012 NCAA Tournament Coverage

Rutgers coach Mike Rice, George Mason coach Paul Hewitt, DePaul coach Oliver Purnell, Penn coach Jerome Allen and former Illinois coach Bruce Weber join CBS Sports Network’s coverage of the 2012 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship. Rice, Hewitt and Weber serve as guest analysts on Thursday, March 15. Hewitt and Weber return on Friday, March 16, along with Purnell and Allen.

The coaches join the studio team of analysts Wally Szczerbiak, Steve Lappas, Alaa Abdelnaby and Mateen Cleaves, insider Jon Rothstein, CBSSports.com writers Jeff Goodman and Gary Parrish, and hosts Adam Zucker, Dave Ryan and Brent Stover from CBS Sports Network’s New York City studio. For more information and a full programming schedule, go to www.cbssportsnetwork.com.

That’s it.

Giving You Some Mid-Week Links

Time for some linkage on this Wednesday.

In case you missed it from early this morning, I wrote a post on how you can avoid paying the $3.99 fee to watch the March Madness Live app on your mobile, iPad or online.

And Maine Sports Media has a legal promo code which you can use to avoid paying the fee while supplies are still available.

Tim Layden of Sports Illustrated has a great story on when the NCAA Tournament truly became March Madness back in 1981 when NBC switched from buzzer beater to buzzer beater. I remember every one of these moments that Layden describes. Yes, I’m old.

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand handicaps where ESPN’s Erin Andrews could be headed once her contract is up.

Joe Lucia at Awful Announcing says Erin Andrews isn’t the only free agent at ESPN.

Michael Bradley at the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center writes having March Madness online is a good thing for everyone.

Michael Smith and John Ourand at Sports Business Daily report that the Big 12 is close to signing a rights extension with current TV partners ESPN and Fox Sports Net.

Tom Lorenzo of SportsGrid has video of President Obama making his Final Four picks on ESPN.

R. Thomas Umstead of Multichannel News says FX had strong ratings for the premiere “The Ultimate Fighter”.

Emma Bazilian of Adweek writes that Time.com is launching a sports blog.

Brian Lowry of Fox Sports says CBS/Turner is not worried about losing viewers to the March Madness Live online app.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell suggests if Tim Tebow gets traded to Jacksonville, it would be huge for the franchise.

At Fishbowl NY, Jerry Barmash notes that WFAN’s Boomer & Carton will be skating for charity next week.

To the Schenectady Gazette where Ken Schott says ESPN has named its announcing teams for the NCAA Division I Men’s Hockey Championships.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union says the overnight ratings for the NCAA Tournament’s FIRST FOUR™ games were down from last year.

Pete says NBA TV will be all over the NBA Trade Deadline.

Ken McMillan from the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record writes that Time Warner Cable will air the New York State high school basketball championships.

Keith Groller of the Allentown (PA) Morning Call says Drexel got plenty of sympathy from the TV analysts during NCAA Tournament Selection Sunday.

Tom Jones of the Tampa Bay Times reports that a local sports radio talk show host who used a racial slur earlier this week has left the station.

Eric Deggans of the Times also has a story on the controversy.

Mel Bracht of The Oklahoman says the NBA’s Thunder topped the local ratings last week.

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer writes that Fox Sports Ohio is now airing “Reds Live” nightly.

In Crain’s Chicago Business, Ed Sherman notes that Bulls and White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf grants a rare interview tonight.

Ed says a new Chicago sports news website is preparing to launch next month joining an already crowded marketplace.

Lance Pugmire of the Los Angeles Times talks with ESPN’s Dick Vitale.

Bruce Dowbiggin of the Toronto Globe and Mail says CBC will shift focus from the Toronto Maple Leafs to the playoff-bound Ottawa Senators.

Sports Media Watch looks at the overnight ratings for the opening night doubleheader of the NCAA Tournament.

SMW tells us that the Knicks and Rangers are performing well in the ratings for MSG Network.

Steve Lepore at Puck The Media learns that NBC will air its first-ever NHL playoff doubleheader in April.

Steve says NBC Sports Network will carry Thursday’s Pittsburgh Penguins-New York Rangers game marking the return (again) of Sidney Crosby to the ice.

Steve also provides the coverage plans for NBC Sports Network and TSN for Crosby’s return.

Joe Favorito says horse racing is trying to make some inroads into the March sports calendar.

Ty Duffy of The Big Lead wonders if an ESPN anchor attempted to recruit a high school basketball player for his alma mater.

And that is where the links will end for today.

More posts are on the way. Keep your feeds updated.

Overnight Ratings For FIRST FOUR NCAA Tournament Games Are In

Just received this notice from CBS/Turner on last night’s FIRST FOUR™ doubleheader involving Mississippi Valley State-Western Kentucky and BYU-Iona, both of which involved wild comebacks or collapses, whichever you prefer.

The ratings were an average 0.9 for both games on truTV. CBS/Turner says that’s in line with last year’s average for all FIRST FOUR™ games. Both games received a 0.9 rating. Last year’s ratings averaged a 0.85.

Here’s the press blurb from CBS/Turner for last night.

THIS JUST IN…

…from Turner Sports and CBS Sports

truTV’s exclusive live doubleheader coverage of the First Four of the 2012 NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship on Tuesday, March 13 (6:30 p.m.-12 a.m. ET), averaged a 0.9 metered market household rating. In 2011, the First Four averaged a 0.9 overnight metered market household rating through the first four telecasts.

Both of last night’s truTV telecasts – Mississippi Valley State vs. Western Kentucky (6:30-9:15 p.m.) and BYU vs. Iona (9:45 p.m.-12 a.m.) – earned a 0.9 metered market household rating, according to Nielsen.

That will do it.

How To Avoid Paying The $3.99 Fee To Watch March Madness Online

There has been plenty of confusion over the $3.99 fee to watch the NCAA Tournament online, whether it be through NCAA.com or the March Madness Live app for Android, iPhone and the iPad. First, the original press release promoted the fee and did not clearly explain how you could avoid paying it.

Well after fiddling around with the app this week, I’ve finally figured this out. First download the app for free either from the Android Marketplace or the Apple App Store. Once you’ve downloaded the app, go to the settings button on upper left of the iPad app or hit “Settings” on the mobile app. Touch “My Channels” and put in your zip code, hit “go” and then choose your cable or satellite provider.

Then in “My Account” or “Login” put in your e-mail and set up your password, confirm it and you should be all set to watch all the games. One password will work for the online login at NCAA.com, the iPhone app as well as the iPad app.

You can also watch games through truTV.com, TNT.tv and TBS.com and all you have to do is put in your zip and choose your provider as well as putting in your password. Games at CBSSports.com can be viewed for free, no login is required.

And having seen the video on the March Madness Live mobile and iPad apps, the quality is excellent, however, video did not work for the early game between Western Kentucky and Mississippi Valley State. It was up for the BYU-Iona game.

I also watched at truTV.com and again, the video stream was very good. The online ads are different from what’s shown on TV, but that’s expected.

I do expect the demand on Thursday to cause the video to lag on all online platforms, but should be rectified as the wears on.

So there is the way to watch games on the March Madness Live app without having to pay. As long as your cable or satellite company has an agreement with Turner for streaming, you should be all set.

UPDATE, 03/15/12 — 7:20 p.m.: Turner Sports says if you’re still having trouble authenticating, call 855-566-5483 and techies will walk you through it.

Some Quick Monday Night Linkage

Since we did our linkage this morning, there have been several stories worthy of links and they really should not wait until Tuesday. So I’ll do a set of links right now.

We start with Jason McIntyre of The Big Lead who reports on a fake tweet about ESPN’s Erin Andrews leaving the network (her contract is expiring) and the personalities at the Alleged Worldwide Leader who are negotiating new deals.

MediaRantz recaps how this tweet got circulated and had to be quickly debunked by ESPN.

Matt Yoder at Awful Announcing goes over an interesting Twitter feud between comedian Norm Macdonald and ESPN’s Rick Reilly.

Matt says Digger Phelps wasn’t on his “A” game during Sunday night’s Bracketology show on ESPN.

John Ourand and Michael Smith of Sports Business Journal has CBS Sports Chairman Sean McManus talking about the new authentication and pay system for the March Madness mobile app.

Daniel B. Wood of the Christian Science Monitor notes that the ESPN Films documentary on Magic Johnson’s HIV-positive announcement 20 years ago shows how far we have come in our attitude on the disease.

Conor Nagle at Wei Under Par writes that NBC went into bizzaro world in attempting to cover Tiger Woods’ leg injury at the WGC Cadillac Championships.

At Puck The Media, Steve Lepore notes that the NHL on NBC hit a season low overnight rating on Sunday.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell goes inside the numbers with March Madness.

Ken Schott of the Schenectady Gazette writes that fans hoping to watch this weekend’s ECAC Hockey Championships will have to do so online (scroll down).

Katie Kramer of the Syracuse Post-Standard has ESPN’s Joe Lunardi saying that local fans give him the hardest time when it comes to his brackets.

The Washington Examiner’s Jim Williams has CBS/Turner’s Jim Nantz and Marv Albert both talking about the NCAA Tournament.

Dave Walker at the New Orleans Times-Picayune says social media has helped to popularize March Madness.

David Barron at the Houston Chronicle says the departure of Texans’ offensive lineman Eric Winston will leave a big hole at a local sports radio station.

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer has the networks, announcing assignments and tip times for games of local interest from the NCAA Tournament.

Writing in OnMilwaukee, departing local sports radio host Doug Russell has one wish for the market as he leaves town.

Aaron Morton of the Deseret (UT) News explains to BYU fans where they can find truTV.

Sports Media Watch says the NCAA Tournament Selection Show had its lowest overnight ratings since 1989!!!!

Carol Einarssen at Race Journal Online has Cheers and Jeers for Fox’s NASCAR coverage.

Sox & Dawgs has video of Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine speaking with former ESPN colleagues Karl Ravech and John Kruk during Monday’s exhibition game against Miami.

And that will complete the posts for Monday

Ringing In Some Monday Linkage

Let’s do our Monday linkage today.

Michael Hiestand from USA Today writes that CBS/Turner’s Clark Kellogg will have a big “get” during halftime of Tuesday’s NCAA Tournament First Four game.

Mike Reynolds at Multichannel News says MSG Network has a new show dedicated to the best and worst baseball trades and deals.

Mike says YES Network’s national feed will be seen by California cable subscribers for the first time.

Jason Del Ray of Advertising Age looks at SB Nation’s foray into producing original content for YouTube with former ESPN’ers Bomani Jones and Amy K. Nelson.

Toni Fitzgerald from Media Life Magazine says the NCAA Tournament can be a sports marketer’s dream.

Kevin Wagstaff of Time Magazine says YouTube will be the official video player for NBCOlympics.com, however, don’t expect to see live Olympics on the video streaming service.

Jason McIntyre of The Big Lead spent a day following ESPN’s Jay Bilas at the Big East Tournament.

Ty Duffy of The Big Lead wonders if NBC’s entrance into MLS will help to grow soccer in America.

Timothy Burke of Deadspin has the funny video of ESPN’s Dick Vitale being Dick Vitale during last night’s Bracketology show.

Ken Belson of the New York Times describes the Mets first-ever radio broadcast which included the late Howard Cosell as pregame host.

Michael O’Keefe of the New York Daily News talks with former ESPN’er Sean Salisbury who has been battling depression and hoping to make a TV comeback bid. The story never mentions Salisbury’s MTV2 gig with the Lingerie Football League.

Phil Mushnick at the New York Post writes that TV continues to ignore athletes’ bad behavior.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union has the tip times for the FIRST FOUR and 2nd Round games of the NCAA Tournament.

Keith Groller of the Allentown (PA) Morning Call writes that the voices of the Philadelphia Phillies’ minor league affiliate get their call to the big club this week.

Bob Rossi in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review says NBC will go all out for the NHL Playoffs this spring.

Tom Jones of the Tampa Bay Times reviews the weekend in sports television and I find that I disagree with a couple of his points.

Richard Connelly of the Houston Press says the new Comcast SportsNet Houston plans to build studios that will allow for a Today Show-like atmosphere outdoors.

Mel Bracht from The Oklahoman says former Oklahoma football coach Barry Switzer is in talks to have a movie based on his interesting life.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says there wasn’t much anger directed at the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee this year from the TV analysts.

Dan Caesar from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch notes that Dan McLaughlin returned to Fox Sports Midwest Sunday after a long suspension over his drunk driving arrests.

Dusty Saunders of the Denver Post says Peyton Manning’s visit to the Mile High City gave the local media plenty to talk about over the weekend.

Sam Farmer of the Los Angeles Times had a chance to tour Jon Gruden’s offices as he prepared to host several incoming NFL quarterbacks for his ESPN shows this Spring.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News talks with Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott about rebranding the conference.

Tom also has his sports calendar for this week.

Bruce Dowbiggin at the Toronto Globe and Mail writes that the Canadian NHL clubs want some changes in CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada.

Bruce also looks at the coverage of the death of Canadian skier Nik Zoricic over the weekend.

Raju Mudhar of the Toronto Star says when Don Cherry leaves Hockey Night in Canada, he will be sorely missed.

Sports Media Watch says NASCAR on Fox lost a million viewers for the Subway Fresh Fit 500 from the previous year.

Paul Kennedy at SoccerAmerica feels NBC Sports Network did well in its MLS debut.

SoccerNation says NBC has tapped a well-known composer to produce its MLS theme music.

And that’s going to do it for now.

Some Early Monday Morning Sports Media Thoughts

Another sports media thoughts post which means more original content and that’s good for you. And they’re in bullet form as always.

• CBS/Turner went back to basics for the NCAA Tournament Selection Show this year streamlining the set. Jettisoning Kenny “The Jet” Smith and Charles Barkley off the Selection Show and leaving Greg Gumbel, Greg Anthony and Sports Illustrated’s Seth Davis to analyze the 68 team field led to a more efficient show as compared to last year’s edition where Barkley was woefully miscast and seemed to be snake bitten. This year, Anthony and Davis gave some strong analysis on the field, although Seth freed from having to cede time to Barkley and Smith, seemed to be more forceful in jamming his opinions.

  The Selection Show was much stronger this year and it gave the viewer more meat and potatoes. However, the satellite delays from various school viewing parties are still annoying and forced Gumbel to vamp until the reaction was given. Perhaps going fiber optic will help, but until we get to that point, we’ll have to endure the delays.

  Overall, I was glad to see CBS/Turner return to a less crowded set for the Selection Show.

• CBS/Turner’s first foray into extended analysis of the Tournament field with NCAA Hardcore Brackets on truTV was more of a mixed bag. Barkley and Smith joined Gumbel, Anthony and Davis plus Selection Committee Chairman Jeff Hathaway and Vice Chair Mike Bobinski were interviewed extensively. Barkley’s questions to Hathaway and Bobinski came off more like statements and led to long awkward pauses. Plus, having Hathaway and Bobinski stay for a half hour actually slowed the pace, which was not their fault. Some tweaking is needed for Hardcore Brackets, but the show was a nice alternative to ESPN’s Bracketology.
• Speaking of Bracketology, ESPN kept mostly its tried-and-true formula of having Rece Davis, Jay Bilas, Hubert Davis, the Perpetually Angry Doug Gottlieb, Digger Phelps and Dick Vitale analyze the field. While there was no extreme anger over omissions like Drexel as compared to Bilas going insane over VCU getting in last year. Vitale did go classic Vitale at the end of the show, but overall, the two hour show went off without too much controversy.
• One leftover thought from Sunday’s sports media post regarding ESPN’s coverage of Championship Week. If you watched the ACC, Big East and SEC Tournaments on ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU or ABC, you may have noticed that the shot clock was superimposed on the floor, near each basket. For some reason, seeing this large clock on the floor distracted me from the action and creeped me out whenever someone stepped over it. I could understand if there was no shot clock, but ESPN had one on its scoreboard bar on the bottom of the screen. I don’t know if it was ESPN’s way of trying to be cute or just showing off, but the whole concept was annoying. Not a bad idea, but the execution was off.
• I know we won’t have Gus Johnson on the NCAA Tournament this year, but if I could suggest that radio rightsholder Dial Global hire him for next year. It would bring back the event’s signature voice to its rightful place and be a great PR move. Plus, it would bring an audience to the radio calls. Gus has called radio for the New York Knicks for MSG so why not have him do it for the NCAA Tournament? Just a thought. Let’s make this happen.

That will conclude the thoughts for this Monday.

2012 NCAA Tournament FIRST FOUR & 2nd Round Tip Times & Announcing Assignments

We’ve been waiting for the NCAA Tournament tip times and announcing assignments for the 2nd round and lo and behold, they’ve come.

Of course, Jim Nantz and Clark Kellogg will be in Greensboro to call North Carolina and Duke. Uncle Verne Lundquist and Bill Raftery will be in Louisville. Kevin Harlan, Len Elmore and Reggie Miller are assigned to Pittsburgh. Ian Eagle and Jim Spanarkel head to Nashville. Marv Albert and Steve Kerr will travel to Omaha.

So without further ado, we have the tip times and the announcing assignments for the FIRST FOUR™ and the 2nd round of the NCAA Tournament.

TURNER SPORTS’ AND CBS SPORTS’ EXCLUSIVE COVERAGE OF  2012 NCAA^® DIVISION I MEN’S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP TIPS-OFF MARCH 13

Announce Teams Assigned for NCAA First Four^® and Second Round Coverage

CBS Sports’ and Turner Sports’ exclusive coverage of the 2012 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship tips off with first round coverage of the NCAA First Four on Tuesday, March 13 and Wednesday, March 14 (6:00 PM, ET; both days) on truTV. Second-round coverage begins Thursday, March 15 and Friday, March 16 (11:00 AM-12:00 AM, ET; both days), with all games available live in their entirety across four national television networks: TBS, CBS, TNT and truTV.

Jim Nantz, Clark Kellogg and Steve Kerr will call the action, with Tracy Wolfson courtside for the two First Four games on Tuesday. Ian Eagle and Jim Spanarkel, along with courtside reporter Lewis Johnson, will handle the call for the games on Wednesday. The studio coverage for Tuesday’s First Four games will include Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley, Greg Anthony, Kenny Smith and Seth Davis. On Wednesday, Matt Winer, Steve Smith and Davis offer analysis in the studio (6:00 PM, ET; both days).

Following are the tip times for the First Four games, as well as the announce and production team assignments for the second round games. Tip times for the third round games on Saturday will be announced on Thursday after the conclusion of the day’s games. Sunday’s tip times will be released after the conclusion of play on Friday. For a complete channel guide click on MyChannels at NCAA.com/MyChannels.

NCAA March Madness Live will provide a robust suite of products including live streaming video of all 67 games from the 2012 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship; personal channel lineup (MyChannel) features and schedule updates; social media integration; and real-time brackets, scores and stats across online and mobile platforms.

FIRST ROUND GAMES
TUESDAY, MARCH 13

Play-by-Play/Analyst//Reporter

6:40 PM — truTV, Dayton I: Mississippi Valley St. vs. Western Kentucky, Jim Nantz/Clark Kellogg/Steve Kerr//Tracy Wolfson

Approximately 9:10 PM — truTV, Dayton II: BYU vs. Iona, Jim Nantz/Clark Kellogg/Steve Kerr//Tracy Wolfson

FIRST ROUND GAMES
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 14 

6:40 PM — truTV, Dayton I: Lamar vs. Vermont, Ian Eagle/Jim Spanarkel//Lewis Johnson

Approximately 9:10 PM — truTV, Dayton II: California vs. South Florida, Ian Eagle/Jim Spanarkel//Lewis Johnson

SECOND ROUND GAMES
THURSDAY AFTERNOON, MARCH 15 (12:00 NOON-5:00 PM, ET)

Play-by-Play/Analyst//Reporter

12:15 PM — CBS, Louisville I: Murray State vs. Colorado State, Verne Lundquist/Bill Raftery//Lesley Visser

12:40 PM — truTV, Pittsburgh I: Kansas State vs. Southern Miss, Kevin Harlan/Len Elmore/Reggie Miller//Marty Snider

1:40 PM — TBS, Portland I: Louisville vs. Davidson, Brian Anderson/Dan Bonner//Jenn Hildreth

2:10 PM — TNT, Albuquerque I: Wisconsin vs. Montana, Spero Dedes/Bob Wenzel//Jamie Maggio

Approximately 2:45 PM — CBS, Louisville II:Marquette vs. BYU/Iona, Verne Lundquist/Bill Raftery//Lesley Visser

Approximately 3:10 PM — truTV, Pittsburgh II: Syracuse vs. UNC Asheville, Kevin Harlan/Len Elmore/Reggie Miller//Marty Snider

Approximately 4:10 PM — TBS, Portland II: New Mexico vs. Long Beach St., Brian Anderson/Dan Bonner//Jenn Hildreth

Approximately 4:40 PM — TNT, Albuquerque II: Vanderbilt vs. Harvard, Spero Dedes/Bob Wenzel//Jamie Maggio

SECOND ROUND GAMES
THURSDAY EVENING, MARCH 15 (6:30 PM-12:00 AM, ET)

6:50 PM — TBS, Louisville III: Kentucky vs. Mississippi Valley State/Western Kentucky, Verne Lundquist/Bill Raftery//Lesley Visser

7:15 PM — CBS, Portland III: Wichita State vs. VCU, Brian Anderson/Dan Bonner//Jenn Hildreth

7:20 PM — TNT, Pittsburgh III: Gonzaga vs. West Virginia, Kevin Harlan/Len Elmore/Reggie Miller//Marty Snider

7:27 PM — truTV, Albuquerque III: Baylor vs. South Dakota State, Spero Dedes/Bob Wenzel//Jamie Maggio

Approximately 9:20 PM — TBS, Louisville IV: Iowa State vs. Connecticut, Verne Lundquist/Bill Raftery//Lesley Visser

Approximately 9:45 PM — CBS, Portland IV: Indiana vs. New Mexico State, Brian Anderson/Dan Bonner//Jenn Hildreth

Approximately 9:50 PM — TNT, Pittsburgh IV: Ohio State vs. Loyola Maryland, Kevin Harlan/Len Elmore/Reggie Miller//Marty Snider

Approximately 9:57 PM — truTV, Albuquerque IV: UNLV vs. Colorado, Kevin Harlan/Len Elmore/Reggie Miller//Marty Snider

SECOND ROUND GAMES
FRIDAY AFTERNOON, MARCH 16 (12:00 NOON-5:00 PM, ET)

Play-by-Play/Analyst//Reporter

12:15 PM — CBS, Nashville I: Cincinnati vs. Texas, Ian Eagle/Jim Spanarkel//Lewis Johnson

12:40 PM — truTV, Columbus I: San Diego St. vs. NC State, Tim Brando/Mike Gminski//Otis Livingston

1:40 PM — TBS, Greensboro I: Creighton vs. Alabama, Jim Nantz/Clark Kellogg/Tracy Wolfson

2:10 PM — TNT, Omaha I: Florida vs. Virginia, Marv Albert/Steve Kerr//Craig Sager

Approximately 2:45 PM — CBS, Nashville II, Florida State vs. St. Bonaventure, Ian Eagle/Jim Spanarkel//Lewis Johnson

Appoximately 3:10 PM — truTV, Columbus II: Georgetown vs. Belmont, Tim Brando/Mike Gminski//Otis Livingston

Approximately 4:10 PM — TBS, Greensboro II: North Carolina vs. Lamar/Vermont, Jim Nantz/Clark Kellogg/Tracy Wolfson

Approximately 4:40 PM — TNT, Omaha II: Missouri vs. Norfolk St., Marv Albert/Steve Kerr/Craig Sager

SECOND ROUND GAMES
FRIDAY EVENING, MARCH 16 (6:30 PM-12:00 AM, ET)

6:50 PM — TBS, Columbus III: Memphis vs. Saint Louis, Tim Brando/Mike Gminski//Otis Livingston

7:15 PM — CBS, Greensboro III: Duke vs. Lehigh, Jim Nantz/Clark Kellogg/Tracy Wolfson

7:20 PM — TNT, Nashville III: Michigan vs. Ohio, Ian Eagle/Jim Spanarkel//Lewis Johnson

7:27 PM — truTV, Omaha III: St. Mary’s (CA) vs. Purdue, Marv Albert/Steve Kerr/Craig Sager

Approximately 9:20 PM — TBS, Columbus IV: Michigan State  vs. LIU Brooklyn, Tim Brando/Mike Gminski//Otis Livingston

Approximately 9:45 PM — CBS, Greensboro IV: Notre Dame  vs. Xavier, Jim Nantz/Clark Kellogg/Tracy Wolfson

Approximately 9:50 PM — TNT, Nashville IV: Temple vs. California/South Florida, Ian Eagle/Jim Spanarkel//Lewis Johnson

Approximately 9:57 PM — truTV, Omaha IV: Kansas vs. Detroit, Marv Albert/Steve Kerr/Craig Sager

Saturday’s tip times will be announced after Thursday’s games are completed. Once we get the release, it will be posted immediately.