March Madness staying on CBS, Turner partnership will continue to underachieve

March Madness will stay on CBS and various Turner networks, leaving a lot to be desired for fans.

There used to be just one place to watch all the March Madness action. CBS was the sole broadcaster for the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament for almost three decades. In 2010, the network joined forces with Turner Sports, and games were split between CBS, TNT, TBS and the always popular TruTV.

The partnership has been profitable for all parties, but it has been a difficult for some fans to get used to with four games going on at the same time.

Last season, the partnership saw the Final Four semifinal games on TBS and the championship still on CBS. This season, all three games from Houston were on TBS, including Villanova’s title game win on a Kris Jenkins three-pointer.

Now, we’re going to be seeing more and more of the tournament on cable television as the partnership between March Madness and the television networks has been extended through the 2032 tournament. It’s an eight year extension of the current deal, which was set to expire after the 2024 tournament:

"“There are very few premium properties in the sports marketplace that can produce that kind of value that the NCAA tournament delivers,” said Turner Sports President David Levy. “There is no other event that captivates an entire nation for over three weeks and across all platforms—television, digital and social.”"

While it is true that the partnership between Turner and CBS has increased the coverage of the tournament on other, non-tradtional platforms, and extended the tournament’s reach, there is plenty still left to be desired.

Until CBS won the broadcasting rights in 1982, NBC was the sole broadcaster of the game for 13 tournaments (from 1969 to 1981). Even then, first round games were shown on ESPN until 1991, before completely switching to over-the-air. You knew that come March, there was just one place you had to tune in for games. You didn’t have worry about whether you had TruTV.

In a perfect world, there would be more uniformity when it comes to the contract and who broadcasts what. Currently, CBS and TBS will alternate coverage of Final Four weekend (CBS in 2017, TBS in 2018 for example), meaning fans will not have one true location for the tournament.

More and more sporting events are leaving their classic spots on network television and heading to cable (just look at ESPN’s continuing effort to buy and ruin sports, as they have done with the College Football Playoff). March Madness has become the latest victim of this trend, and will remain a lead-in for episodes of Law and Order, Lizard Lick Towing of re-runs of The Big Bang Theory.

For more March Madness news, check out our March Madness hub page.